


Falling Away With You

by Froglady15



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-08
Updated: 2016-08-16
Packaged: 2018-06-07 06:33:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 75,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6791008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Froglady15/pseuds/Froglady15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This story takes place immediately following Bulma’s departure from the battlefield the day the Androids appeared. It is going to be a miniseries covering the 7 year gap between the Cell Games and Buu. How did Bulma and Vegeta manage to come together, salvage and build any sort of relationship when it was made very clear that they were not together when the Androids arrived? How did Bulma put behind her the fact that Vegeta didn’t even attempt to save her and Trunks? How did Vegeta overcome the severe depression he fell into after the Cell games? How did they find a way to coexist and raise Trunks despite such a rocky beginning? Here’s my version of the tale and attempt to telling it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry I’ve started another story!! I’m stuck with writers block for Butterflies and Hurricanes and I started writing this as something to do to help that and it’s snowballed from there. Don’t worry, I haven’t abandoned Butterflies and Hurricanes- not even close!! Just taking a break amidst dealing with a bunch of personal issues at the moment too. Adulting sucks sometimes!! And when these things happen, it really stifles my creativity. 
> 
> This story takes place immediately following Bulma’s departure from the battlefield the day the Androids appeared. It is going to be a miniseries covering the 7 year gap between the Cell Games and Buu. How did Bulma and Vegeta manage to come together, salvage and build any sort of relationship when it was made very clear that they were not together when the Androids arrived? How did Bulma put behind her the fact that Vegeta didn’t even attempt to save her and Trunks? How did Vegeta overcome the severe depression he fell into after the Cell games? How did they find a way to coexist and raise Trunks despite such a rocky beginning? Here’s my version of the tale and attempt to telling it. 
> 
> I tried very hard to keep everyone in character and base all of the events on cannon events based on the anime (I have not read the manga so please forgive any deviations or discrepancies there).
> 
> This story can stand alone, but I do allude to events that happened in the story Undisclosed Desires and the two one shots Starlight and Dead Star. Feel free to check them out before reading this. I highly recommend at least reading Dead Star though because this story picks up right after that and those events triggered these events. 
> 
> Other than that, thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoy reading this one!!!

**_Disclaimer:_** I don't own anything. Just my Husband, laptop, my 3 dogs and a very overactive imagination… Dragon Ball Z and any songs mentioned in this fic DO NOT belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own twisted amusement.

 

**_Falling Away With You_ **

 

**_I can't remember when it was good, moments of happiness elude. Maybe I just misunderstood. All of the love we left behind, watching the flashbacks intertwine. Memories I will never find._ **

**_So I'll love whatever you become, and forget the reckless things we've done. I think our lives have just begun, I think our lives have just begun._ **

**_And I'll feel my world crumbling, I'll feel my life crumbling, I'll feel my soul crumbling away and falling away, falling away with you._ **

**_Staying awake to chase a dream, tasting the air you're breathing in, I hope I won't forget a thing.  Promise to hold you close and pray, watching the fantasies decay. Nothing will ever stay the same._ **

**_And all of the love we threw away, and all of the hopes we've cherished fade. Making the same mistakes again. Making the same mistakes again._ **

**_I'll feel my world crumbling, I'll feel my life crumbling, I'll feel my soul crumbling away. And falling away. Falling away with you_ **

**_All of the love we left behind, watching the flash backs intertwine. Memories I will never find. Memories I will never find_ **

**_~Falling Away with You, Muse_ **

****

**_Chapter 1_ **

Bulma stood there after she finished tucking Trunks in for his nap and just looked at him in wonder. She had just gotten back from the island the Androids had appeared on. _Vegeta had been right,_ she told herself as the earlier events of the day began to fully sink in. _I, no, **we** had no business being there. I almost got us killed, _ she thought in horror as she began to dwell on it. _And true to his word, he didn’t even lift a finger to save us. If it hadn’t been for that boy from the future..._ she thought sadly, shaking her head and trying to dismiss the negative thoughts running through her mind as she felt her eyes begin to burn from tears that were beginning to build up from the pent up stress and emotions from the day.

 _Would he have even cared if we had been killed,_ she asked herself. _Probably not. He would have probably seen it as a blessing,_ she told herself bitterly, wiping away a stray tear that began to fall.

However, try as she may, she couldn’t bring herself to be completely angry with Vegeta and his callous attitude towards their very near demise. He had told her not to come. He had made it very clear that it was a mistake for her to show up with Trunks; and what had she done? She’d blatantly ignored his practical council and had stubbornly shown up anyway in an act of defiance just to spite him, not taking a moment to consider that maybe he was right or that just maybe the reason why he had been so insistent she not show up, was because it had been his subtle way of letting her know that he did in some small way actually care about them.

As she let that possibility sink in, the more upset she became with herself and less with Vegeta.

She was embarrassed.

Sure she was hurt and angry with the way Vegeta had reacted, or rather _hadn’t_ reacted, but she was more upset at herself than anything else. She had been a fool to disregard his request that she remain far from the battle.

Even Goku had urged her to leave just before it all started and she had been too stubborn and hard headed to take his concerns to heart and leave when she should have.

When Krillin had brought Yamcha back with a hole punched clean through his chest and back, that should have been her cue to turn tail and head home. _Thank Korin for sensu beans,_ she said to herself as the unpleasant churn in her stomach returned at the memory of seeing Yamcha so badly hurt. Her stomach had dropped the instant she had seen Krillin racing towards them with her ex-boyfriend slung over his shoulder. She had known immediately that it was Yamcha.

Yajirobe had questioned her on how she could possibly be so sure since all they could see was the orange gi, but she’d known it wasn’t Goku. As much as she still cared very deeply for Yamcha and knew some part of her always would, she knew he really wasn’t a useful team member anymore in these battles. Everyone had surpassed him by so much now that it wasn’t even worth his showing up to help defend Earth anymore. Not when they had Goku, Gohan, Piccolo and hopefully Vegeta, _for_ _now anyway_ , she thought guiltily. He had nearly been killed before the fight had even started. She admired his willingness to help, but what good were good intentions, courage and a heart of gold in a situation where you were as breakable as paper mache in comparison to your adversary and your fellow companions? _None, really._

Once they had restored Yamcha after giving him a senzu bean, she should have left. What possible reason had she to even stay after that? Yamcha's near death should have frightened her off but instead, it had only fuelled her curiosity. She hadn’t cared what the risk was or thought about the possible dangers. Vegeta hadn’t made an appearance yet and she had wanted him to know she had shown up anyway despite his expressed wishes that she not come. Deep down, she knew that was her true motivation at that point and it had overruled any common sense on the matter at that point.

 _What does that say about me,_ she asked herself. _That I would needlessly put myself and my son in such a dangerous situation just to prove a point. Am I a horrible mother?_

Bulma shook her head at herself as she considered that. _No, you’re not a horrible parent, you love your son more than anything else but I think the time has come for me to accept that I should remain behind on the sidelines and quit being so reckless. Chi-Chi is never in the thick of it._

She sighed in annoyance, _staying behind is so boring though!_

Bulma was a thrill seeker; always had been since she was a little girl. She thrived on taking risks and the sometimes near-death experiences.

She finally exited Trunks’ nursery, walking into her spacious bathroom to draw herself up a bath. She left her door open just a crack so that she could hear Trunks if he happened to wake up, though he’d had a pretty long day. She wouldn’t be surprised if he slept until midnight at least.

As the water ran, she examined herself in the mirror. She was 33 years old now, not 17 or 18. Though in her mind she still _looked_ and _felt_ like she was. Not only was she an “adult” she was a mother now too. _I guess it’s time I started acting like one,_ she sighed in resignation that the time to grow up had finally come. She had fought it for as long as possible.

Bulma crawled into the soothing, hot water while it was still running and took a deep breath as she relaxed, letting the hot water wash away her tension. She knew she was going to be stiff and sore tomorrow from all the flying with Gohan. _Poor kid,_ she affectionately chuckled to herself as she thought about how he had selflessly brought back her and Trunks and Yajirobe back without complaint; he had even taken a detour and dropped her off first before going to check on his father and whether or not he was recovering.

She let her mind drift back to her friends. She hoped they were all okay and that none of them had fallen. Without Goku, who knew how things would go. She hoped he was on the mend, having taken the antidote; hopefully they had caught the virus in time before it did any irreparable damage to him. _In the meantime, let’s just hope they can all just hang in there until he is able to get back out there._

Bulma wanted to place all her hope and faith in Vegeta, she _really_ did, but the problem with Vegeta was he wasn’t a team player. He wanted to do everything on his own and never accept any help from anyone else for fear of appearing weak in front of everyone else. She understood it to a point, but he was so extreme in his insistence that he stand apart from the rest of the group that she was worried it would get him killed. _It will,_ she snorted out loud as she leaned forward to shut the water off. _He’d rather die than ask for assistance from anyone. Idiotic, temperamental, pig headed, stupid, asshole Saiyan._

She chuckled at herself as she realized that in a lot of ways they were very much alike. _Which is probably why things between us would have never worked out in the long run anyway._

Bulma thought about that for a moment. She was torn. After their brief fling had ended, she had discovered a few weeks later she was pregnant. Then he had left to go train in space before the Andriods and she hadn’t seen him again until last night. He had returned about three weeks early, she’d known that because the ship had been brought back in fairly decent shape, considering its occupant and how long it had been gone. She snickered to herself in memory of her threatening that he return the ship back whole and in working condition or she would go out there looking for it and him. _And he did bring it back in working condition._

She’d had a long time to think about it while he’d been gone. She had come to terms with the possibility that she would be raising her son without a father. That didn’t bother her too much, however. She had the Z fighters as her friends so she knew that there wouldn’t be a lack of male figures in his life to look up to and train with as he grew up. Although if Vegeta did somehow have a change of heart and decided he wanted to be a part of Trunks’ life, she was more than alright with that too.

Bulma sighed as she took in the warmth of the hot water; it was exactly what she needed but she decided she should get out and check in the lab to make sure that everything with all of her friends was still okay. With Goku out of the fight, who knew how things were going. If any of them called her for any reason, she needed to make sure she was available.

 _You said you were going to remain on the sidelines from now on,_ she sternly reminded herself as she drew figure eights in the water contemplating it. “Yea, for the next one I will, but until then, I need to help them in any way that I possibly can so our future doesn’t turn out the same as what that boy said it would.” she said determinedly, draining her tub and getting out. It was only late afternoon, who knew what had transpired between now and when she’d left. Maybe she could find something on Dr. Gero’s research and on the androids themselves that could be of some help. She knew the chances of that were slim to none being that Dr. Gero had been very reclusive and almost non-existent the past few decades, but with any luck, maybe she could find something that would be of some use.

Bulma dried herself off and dressed herself in a comfortable top and pants. Trunks was still fast asleep but she carefully bundled him up and headed towards the lab with her, not surprised that he didn’t so much as stir. _Poor little guy,_ she thought to herself, giving him a soft kiss on the head as she went.

Even if she and Vegeta had no future together, she would do everything in her power to help everyone out. If for no other reason, Trunks deserved a future.

“Bulma, I’m glad I found you,” her father greeted her as she walked through the kitchen. “I need you to take a look at this,” he said, placing a picture on the kitchen table.

“What is it?” she asked, studying the picture for a minute. It was an old looking machine covered in moss and dirt.

“Not sure,” her father shrugged. “Someone called to let us know that they found it because it has the Capsule Corporation logo on it but I’m sure it’s not one of our products. Does it ring a bell to you?”

“Hmmm,” she hummed. It looked vaguely like the machine that boy from the future who _claimed_ to be her son had travelled in but how could that be? “I’m not sure,” she said to her father. “Let me talk to the guy to see what other information I can get for him and then let me make a few calls. This definitely isn’t one of ours, but I might know where it came from.”

Bulma took the information her father already had written down and went back upstairs to her room. She had some investigating to do and she had a strange feeling the only person who would be able to give her any answers was the older version of her son from the future who had saved her and Trunks. It was still strange to her to think that the small baby in her arms and that boy were the same person.

“Still, at least he’ll grow up to be polite, well-mannered, he got more of my looks than Vegeta’s and none of Vegeta’s personality,” she shrugged in satisfaction, putting Trunks back into his crib. Bulma picked up her phone to call the guy who discovered this strange object. “I’m going to need a glass of wine,” she sighed as she heard the phone ring on the other end, waiting for someone to answer.

-0-0-0-

Vegeta saw her as she passed him in the hallway with a sleeping Trunks and scowled at her. She was the _last_ person he wanted to see, let alone talk to and that was saying a lot, considering all the Z warriors had decided to congregate at Capsule Corporation to wait for news on the specifics of this tournament that Cell wanted to hold. At least those idiots had the wherewithal to leave him alone for the most part.

Bulma must have felt the same about not wanting to talk to him either, he figured as she shot him an equally cool look and quickly retreated back to her bedroom, making certain he heard her close the door behind her.

 _Good,_ he snorted and made his way back down to the kitchen to try and scrounge up a meal. He was hungry and couldn’t remember when the last time was that he had eaten. He carelessly began rummaging through the fridge, grabbing everything and anything without much thought.

“Well look at you,” she sneered at him, not even trying to hide her feelings of animosity towards him as she strolled into the kitchen, however she made sure to keep her voice down so that the other Z fighters wouldn’t hear her. She initially wasn’t going to even bother speaking with him but after she’d slammed the door at him in the hallway a few minutes ago and got no reaction from him, she decided she needed to speak with him about what had happened whether it was a good idea or not.

Vegeta turned and scowled at her. He had been so absorbed in his own thoughts he hadn’t noticed her approaching. He had assumed she had gone to bed.

“So? Did you win and beat everyone?” she asked, her tone laced with sarcasm. He knew she would know by now that he had gotten his ass kicked royally by both Android 18 and Perfect Cell. “Oh, that’s right, you _didn’t_. You didn’t beat _anyone_ , did you?”

He just continued to glare at her, wishing she would just go away and leave him alone. He’d beaten one of the androids but he didn’t even have the energy to bring that up and dispute her claim that he hadn’t beaten _anyone_. He didn’t give a shit what she thought.

“You look splendid by the way,” she commented sarcastically, looking him over critically. “There’s fresh flight suits and armour in your bedroom in the closet.”

“Hmmn,” he grunted. He knew he looked like shit and didn’t appreciate her biting tone and sarcasm. “I am only here for a shower, a meal and a few hours of sleep and then I’m leaving to train more for this _tournament_ Cell is putting on. That is the only reason why I am here.”

“As always,” she snorted bitterly. “Well go on then, I wouldn’t want to keep you. Trunks and I are just _fine_ by the way, thanks for asking and checking in on us.”

Vegeta shot her a nasty look in response. “I can see that. Hopefully you learned something from that little incident.” he replied coolly taking great satisfaction at the hurt look she shot his way before turning away and exiting the kitchen, leaving him alone.

She had to help her father repair that android anyway. Arguing with Vegeta would have to wait.

Of course he _cared_ that both she and the brat had very nearly been killed. He kept telling himself after it had happened that he didn’t care and that she had it coming for being so stupid as to make an appearance, never mind the annoyance he felt over her blatantly disrespecting his wishes on behalf of her own safety and the safety of their son. Despite telling himself he didn’t care, the incident instead had shaken him up deeply and it bothered him every time he thought about it and replayed it in his mind over and over again.

He had frozen in the moment and he was not sure how he felt about that. On one hand, it was unacceptable as a warrior of his calibre to simply freeze and not react to a situation but on the other, by not reacting he had spared himself the humiliation he would have felt knowing that the other warriors would have seen him nearly breaking his neck to save his family. That meant acknowledging that he _possibly_ cared about them somewhat and he wasn’t ready for that just yet, never mind being alright with them knowing that he might.

Those other weakened low class warriors all thought that they were better than him. They all assumed that he only cared about himself and no one else, which was true. He didn’t care one iota about any of them, the inhabitants of this planet, or even the planet itself and he was alright with them thinking that. It meant they kept their distance from him and that was exactly how he preferred it.

However, as much as he tried denying it, he _did_ care about the woman and her child. It was a new and foreign feeling to him that even he knew he hadn’t properly addressed to figure out what that meant for him and how he was supposed to act. What he did know was he had been so angry with her for still showing up on the battlefield with Trunks that the moment the explosion happened, he hadn’t cared. _Serves her right,_ or something along those lines had been the only thought that had gone through his mind until Future Trunks had confronted him over why he hadn’t even attempted to save them.

Instead of eating a bit of humble pie and apologizing for the lapse or admitting that he had been wrong to do nothing, he had lied and cruelly said that he had better things to do than worry about the safety _of that foolish woman and her blasted child,_ was what he had said. He winced now slightly at that cutting remark and what disturbed him somewhat was when he’d said it, he’d _meant_ it.

He had completely alienated himself from her and the adult version of his son. _So be it,_ he shrugged as he finished his meal. _It is better that way anyway. I do not need them._

Vegeta left all the dirty dishes on the table for someone else to clean up as he went to his room for a hot shower and a quick power nap before deciding whether or not he was leaving for good after beating Cell or not.

 “What was that about?” Krillin asked him as he walked out of the kitchen.

“Mind your business,” Vegeta snarled at him as he passed him in the hall.

“Look, I know we’re not exactly friends, but I think Bulma is a little bit upset by what happened in her air car,” Krillin pressed, knowing it was probably not in his best interests. “I’m not judging you, just warning you that you know what they say about a woman spurned?”

“Hmmn,” he grunted.

“Ya, well then there’s a Bulma spurned and that’s a whole different ballgame altogether,” Krillin chuckled. “Believe you me, Yamcha wrote the book on that one and being in Bulma’s doghouse.”

“What difference does it make to you or that idiot weakling?”

“None, really, just warning you that if you are planning to stay here after this thing with Cell that she’s going to probably make your life a living hell for a while,” Krillin cautioned. “In all honesty, I wouldn’t want to be in your shoes at the moment.”

Vegeta snarled and closed the door to his bedroom, ignoring Krillin and his council altogether. _She already makes my life a living hell, what else is new?_

A couple of hours later, Vegeta was washed, dressed and feeling somewhat rested. He didn't feel as good as he’d hoped and knew he should take a little longer before leaving but he wanted to get out of Capsule Corporation as quickly as possible.

He crept quietly down the hallway, not wanting to attract the attention of the woman. He had nothing to say to her. Thoughts of Trunks flashed in his mind and he paused a moment. Should he go see him before leaving? _No,_ he told himself as he kept walking.

He wasn’t cut out to be a father, so why pretend now? Spending time with Future Trunks in the hyperbolic time chamber had proved that. Yes they had managed to forge some sort of relationship but it had only been because the boy so desperately had wanted to. Vegeta couldn’t have cared less and only hoped the boy would leave him alone the remainder of his time here.

 _Ten days_ , he told himself. He had ten days to train and improve and he would. He would deal with Cell himself and show all these low class warriors what he was capable of.

-0-0-0-

It had been three months since the Cell Games.

Vegeta hadn’t left his room since Future Trunks had left this timeline. Initially, he had decided on leaving this miserable planet altogether. What was here for him anymore? _Nothing,_ he told himself. _Absolutely nothing_.

As he had been preparing to leave, thoughts of Trunks had begun to plague him again. Should he remain here and get to know the child that would eventually grow up to be the man he had interacted with during his brief time here in this timeline? _No,_ he’d told himself. He had nothing to offer the boy. It was best he leave now while he was still an infant and likely had no memory or knowledge him at all.

Except something was telling him to stay.

He hadn’t realized how much the boy meant to him until Cell had killed him.

It frightened him.

He would have denied it until he was blue in the face that Trunks meant absolutely nothing to him. He wasn’t his son. Maybe he was his son in another timeline, but that wasn’t this timeline. Therefore he felt no obligation to the boy. Until he had been killed. It had been one of the most traumatic events of his life.

He had seen and been around death from as far back as he could remember and never had the sight of anyone’s death shaken him so deeply as when he’d witnessed Trunks’ death. He could barely even remember it now but he had gone into a blind rage in his reaction to it.

It was disgraceful. He had been nothing more than a liability in that battle. 

What good had he done himself or any of them? None. Cell had only toyed with him for a few minutes and that had been that.

For whatever reason, his feelings of shame over failing the future version of his son so horribly seemed to be the only reason why he stayed here, but yet he could not bring himself to venture out of his room and go see the boy.

Vegeta sighed, dismissing his thoughts of shame and disappointment in himself and decided that he needed to get up and eat something. He had been holed up in this room for several days now and he was so hungry even he couldn’t ignore his stomach’s objections anymore to being left empty and neglected.

While a part of him had no desire to eat and no real appetite, he knew he had to put something into his system as he stood up and felt the floor move beneath him as though it were being pulled out from beneath his feet.

He braced the wall a moment to regain his equilibrium and closed his eyes. Getting up as quick as he had had been a bad idea and he put a hand on his face, leaning forward just a bit, still bracing the wall as he tried to remember the last time he was this disoriented from lack of nutrition, trying to think of anything to distract himself from the feeling of vertigo and nausea from an empty stomach and dehydration.

The last time he felt this way was because Frieza had taken away his dining privileges and rations. He had starved him for several weeks from what he could remember. What had he done to merit that? He tried to think back, anything to distract himself from feeling as horrible as he did right now.

He began to panic as he felt his heart palpating rapidly. He remembered he had been without food for so long that time that he’d gotten some viral infection that had left him ill for weeks afterwards because his immune system had shut down. On top of that, he’d nearly had a heart attack he had been so weakened by the ordeal. Being that a Saiyan’s metabolism was so rapid, it didn’t take long for the body to burn through any and all reserves and once the first few lines of defence were used up, it was a steady, rapid decline after that. From his time on Earth, he had learned that a human could out live a Saiyan if cut off from food.

Now feeling that palpating of his heart despite knowing it hadn’t been _that_ long since he had eaten last, it shook him up somewhat. He knew it was probably all in his head because he was remembering it but still, he knew that he needed some kind of sustenance.

 _How_ _long_ _has_ _it_ _been_ , he asked himself as he sat back down. The dizziness and disorientation wasn’t going away. _It cannot be any longer than a few days. Not weeks like last time._

Last time he’d had no food for maybe four or five weeks he suspected. His water had been cut off two weeks into his food deprivation. He couldn’t remember why though. Why had Frieza done that? It wasn’t until Zarbon and Dodoria had gone to Frieza on his behalf because he was in the med bay after minor heart failure that Frieza had relented and allowed him to receive his usual rations again. It had taken him another three weeks to recover from a viral infection and begin regaining his former strength.

He must have been in a really bad state that Zarbon and Dodoria had intervened. They’d hated him. Not even Nappa and Raditz had been able to remedy the situation and from what he remembered if they were caught sneaking him anything they themselves would be cut off as well and made to suffer the same as he was.

 _That was it!_ He thought to himself as it all came back to him. They had been on a planet that Frieza had wanted for its desirable agricultural traits and Raditz the idiot had not only scorched more than half of the planet’s surface area, thereby destroying the crops but he had blown up many of their storage reserve facilities as well so they had next to nothing to bring back with them to Frieza’s ship.

Needless to say, Frieza had been a little more than pissed off. Because Vegeta was the commanding officer, as usual, he had to take the fall for any mistakes that were made whether they were his fault or not. He had been young at that time. Maybe 19? It had been one of his first missions from what he recalled.

“Fucking useless worm,” he muttered under his breath as he attempted to stand up again only slowly this time.

He still felt a tad disoriented, but he could manage. Skipping taking a shower, he promptly headed down the stairs and into the kitchen to see what kind of meal he could scrounge up. Fortunately for him, the woman’s mother almost always had an abundance of food prepared and set aside.

He rummaged through the fridge and found a casserole dish that was half finished and grabbed it, not caring about what kind of casserole it was, nor did he attempt to warm it up. It was a start and his stomach was growling loudly at the mere sight and smell of food.

Bulma happened to walk into the kitchen just as he sat down and began to dig into the cold leftovers.

“Wow, so the walking dead do exist,” she said sarcastically as she saw him. “What, did your bottomless stomach wake you from your endless slumber?”

Vegeta continued to eat, not even pausing to acknowledge her.

“You know that would taste a whole lot better if you warmed it up, right?”

He simply grunted, not caring.

Bulma sighed at his rudeness as she went to the fridge to see what she could make for herself. It was late afternoon so she didn’t want to eat too much or she wouldn't be hungry come dinner time. She settled on making a sandwich and began taking out sliced meat, cheese and a few other condiments.

As she started, she looked over her shoulder at Vegeta, who was scraping the bottom of the casserole dish trying to make sure he’d gotten every last morsel of the casserole.

“Would you like a sandwich or will that tide you over until dinner?” she asked begrudgingly, not wanting to be nice to him but unable to refrain. She knew that half of a lasagne casserole wouldn’t put even a dent in his appetite. Especially since she knew he hadn’t eaten or even left his room in almost a whole week.

“Yes,” he replied.

 _Of course he does,_ Bulma sighed and handed him her sandwich.

He didn’t thank her or say anything, just ate it as soon as he took it from her.

Bulma made three more sandwiches; two for Vegeta and one for herself before putting everything away and snagging two bottles of water for them.

“I’m not sure what mom is making for dinner but you know you’re welcome to join us, right?”

Again, he said nothing, just continued to eat his sandwiches in a steady, determined fashion.

“Whatever, I don’t know why I even bother with you. It’s not like you’re royalty you're more like a pain in the ass DP than anything else,” she sighed in frustration under her breath as she got up to leave. If he wasn’t going to make the effort, neither would she.

“What was that?”

“I said you are a pain in the ass DP!” she repeated louder. “What, you can’t hear me? Maybe you need your ears checked.”

“What the fuck is a DP?” he snarled at her.

Bulma shrugged. “You,” she spat taking great satisfaction that he had no clue what she had just called him.

Of course, this only infuriated him even more as his mind went through a mental rolodex of crude insults, though he couldn’t grasp the meaning behind it. “I am not!”

Bulma, instead of feeling fear from the menacing look he was giving her, began to laugh almost hysterically. “Well, if the shoe fits...” she giggled hilariously at him.

“I do _not_ take kindly to being mocked,” he said dangerously, getting up from his seat and approaching her threateningly.

“Well here’s a news flash for you, buddy,” she snapped, absentmindedly taking a few steps back from him. “You don’t really take _kindly_ to much of anything!”

Vegeta glared at her. “It is difficult to take kindly to much of anything when a demon woman such as yourself is constantly around.”

“Well then go off and find someplace else to live and someone else’s heard earned resources and facilities to destroy and harass because I’m tired of it! This is a home and a place of business, not some fucking DP camp to house every lost cause out there.”

There it was, that term she called him again that he assumed was derogatory in nature. It bothered him that she had the upper hand in this argument because he did not know what DP meant.

“What was that, dear?” Mrs. Briefs asked, waltzing into the kitchen.

“Nothing, mom,” she sighed in annoyance but a part of her was relieved her mother had shown up when she did. Vegeta looked like he was about to throttle her and for whatever reason, she just could not stop prodding at him and resist making him angrier than he already was.

“Who is housing lost causes, dear?” her mother asked. “You can let them know that we have plenty of space and accommodations for anyone who needs a safe place to stay for a little while. I still kind of miss those green people who stayed with us for a while a few years back.”

Not wanting to miss the golden opportunity to possibly make Bulma look bad in front of her mother, Vegeta turned and looked at the attractive older woman. “She was referring to _me_ as a lost cause and that this compound is her home and not a DP camp.”

“Bulma! What a terrible thing to say about any of our house guests, past or present,” her mother scolded her. “I thought your father and I raised you to have more compassion and kindness than that.”

“I was referring to Vegeta as a DP, _not_ the Nameks,” she defended herself, shooting a dirty look at Vegeta who was grinning gleefully at her. “What happened to the Nameks wasn’t their fault and Vegeta _was_ partially to blame if you care to remember that part of the story. He destroyed villages and killed a bunch of them too.”

“All the same dear, that’s a terrible thing to call someone. I’m sure it’s not Vegeta’s fault either that he has no other place to call home besides here. You should show him a little more kindness than that,”

“He doesn’t even know what it means,” she snorted dismissively. It drove her crazy how her mother _always_ took Vegeta’s side, never giving her the benefit of the doubt.

“That’s even worse, dear. You should be ashamed of yourself!”

“Would somebody tell me what the hell a DP is already?” Vegeta demanded irritably, fed up with being the only one who had no idea what they were discussing but was apparently at the centre of being both  mocked and defended.

Bulma looked at her mother. “You can tell him,” she snipped. “Since you’re the one always valiantly defending him.”

Mrs. Briefs uncharacteristically sighed in annoyance at her daughter’s childishness. She simply could not understand why those two were always at each other’s throats. She knew that they’d had a short lived affair a while back. She wasn’t sure why it hadn’t worked out; in Mrs. Briefs mind, they were perfectly suited for one another. Not to mention they had given her the most adorable grandson anyone could wish for. She only wanted them to get their act together and settle down and hopefully in a little while she would have another little grand baby to spoil and fawn over. With any luck, maybe it would be a little girl who looked as gorgeous as Bulma with beautiful blue hair or maybe a striking little beauty with dark features the same as Vegeta.

Mrs. Briefs sighed inwardly to herself. At this rate, that was never going to happen.

“A DP stands for _Displaced Person,”_ she finally said to Vegeta.

“Meaning what?” he asked impatiently. That didn’t sound so bad.

“Well, it’s somewhat complicated and covers a vast meaning of a few different scenarios, but essentially a displaced person refers to someone that was forced to leave their home,” she clarified. “Usually in the case of victims of war, a group of people are removed from their native country and placed elsewhere as refugees, political prisoners or slave labourers in some cases. The term Displaced Person is considered derogatory in nature since after the Second World War with the immigration of many Europeans heading to the United States and Canada after Hitler destroyed everything.”

Vegeta shot Bulma such an icy look that immediately made her regret having her mother tell him what the phrase meant and she looked at the floor in shame. When had she become so mean?

He looked at her in disbelief. Sure, he supposed he fit into the category Mrs. Briefs had just described; it was what it was, but Bulma knew what a sensitive topic it was for him the destruction of his people, home and his being forced to work for Frieza as a child slave warrior all the way into his late 20’s; he was essentially a slave and still would be if he hadn’t embarked on his mission to this miserable planet in an effort to break away from all of that.

True, he still felt nothing but animosity towards Kakarott and the way his life had turned out in general. His life seemed to have no purpose or direction anymore now that the Planet Trade Organization was no more; sometimes that bothered him and sometimes it didn’t and he just liked being able to kick back and have a decent nights rest and a good meal without having to constantly be looking over his shoulder.

That she would take his situation and make fun of it in such an insulting and derogatory manner hurt him more deeply than he knew it should have and that alone gave him pause for thought as to why he would feel hurt over something that came out of her foul mouth. Out of all the insults and abusive speech she’d thrown back at him, this was quite possibly the worst thing she had ever said to him and he was so thrown off, he was hard pressed to have anything to say in retaliation to her.

Bulma chanced a glance at him and the moment their eyes met, she knew she’d gone too far this time. She actually felt bad for making fun of him over something so terrible.

Vegeta did not say another word and promptly exited the kitchen as quickly as possible to place as much space between that viper-mouthed woman and himself before he did something he knew that he would regret.

She stamped her foot on the floor in frustration. For the first time ever, she had one upped Vegeta in one of their verbal spars and left him speechless. That _never_ happened! Instead of crowing in victory over getting one on him, she actually felt bad that she had said something that actually hurt him.

“Now look what you’ve gone and done,” Mrs. Briefs reprimanded her daughter. “Honestly, Bulma, I cannot believe you sometimes.”

Bulma ignored her mother and left the kitchen to go outside after Vegeta. Once again, she questioned herself. _What is wrong with me?_

“Vegeta wait a minute. I didn’t mean-”

“Just leave me alone, you fucking bitch,” he snarled, appearing in front of her suddenly, shoving her against the wall; his hand on her throat threateningly. “If you know what is good for you.”

“I’m sorry, I-”

“Bullshit,” he spat. “You are only sorry because I called you out in front of your mother.”

Bulma didn’t reply. He was right; if her mother hadn’t walked in on their conversation when she had, she’d have dragged the insult out and thrown it at him for weeks at every possible opportunity she could, revelling in the knowledge that he didn’t know the meaning behind it. _That_ was why it was funny. The actual meaning behind it wasn’t, just taunting him over something that he didn’t know was enough for her and why she’d run with it.

“I was more making fun of the fact that you didn’t know what it meant rather than the _literal_ meaning behind it, Vegeta,” she admitted, though she knew it was weak.

He let her go a moment later before turning away from her altogether without another word.

“Oh come _on_ Vegeta. If the roles were reversed, you’d have taken great delight with taunting me over something I didn’t know the meaning behind. You’d have dragged it out for weeks and then laugh at me over it!”

He snorted. She was right, and he knew that. He _would_ have done the exact same thing to her. That didn’t make him feel any less hurt that she would laugh at something so horrible that had happened to him. Once again, she _knew_ how bitter he was still over losing out on everything that he had been destined to have.

“Consider yourself fortunate that I consider you as not worth the effort to dismember and leave me alone,” he said and took off into the air before the desire to tear her apart over ran the common sense dictating that he refrain from doing such a thing.

“Yea, just go! That’s what you’re good at!” she shouted after him, not taking the moment to realize and appreciate how close to death she had actually come this time. Bulma stood outside watching his retreating form until she couldn’t see him anymore before heading back into the house.

“You know, you catch a lot more flies with honey than with vinegar, dear,” her mother chided her.

“Thanks, mum,” she sighed, rolling her eyes as she walked through the kitchen towards the fridge hoping to scrounge something more to tide her over until dinner.

“I mean really, Bulma,” her mother shook her head. “You know that boy has been through an awful lot. I don’t know specifics, but it’s written all over him that he hasn’t lived an easy life. Why do you work so hard to make him despise you?”

“I don’t work at making him despise me!” she argued back.

“Yes, you do,” her mother insisted, stopping what she was doing and turning to look at her daughter. “You share a son together for crying out loud, Bulma. Can you not set aside whatever feelings of animosity you have towards him so you can both raise him together? Forget that I think you two would be really good for each other because what do I know, right? But for a moment, can you think of that poor, sweet little boy you both created and attempt to get along with him? He may be troubled, but he’s a decent young man.”

Bulma sighed, simply taking a beer from the fridge and closing the refrigerator door harder than it needed to be. _If only you knew that ‘decent young man’ would have preferred to let me and your precious grandson die without even batting an eye,_ she bit her tongue back wanting so badly to spill that crucial piece of information to her and let her chew on that for a day or two. As angry as Bulma still was over that, she couldn’t bring herself to reveal it. _Why not?_ She asked herself. _Because his reaction was partially your own damn fault,_ she argued back to herself.

“Whatever, mum,” she sighed again and making a beeline for the door. “Trust me, he’s only here for the free food and accommodations. Once something better comes along, that will be the last we ever see or hear from him. Son or no son.”

“Well don’t give him a chance to find something more worthwhile,” her mother countered as she shook her head at her own daughter.

Bulma pretended to not hear her and continued upstairs to her room to check on Trunks. What _was_ she going to do about Vegeta?


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything. Just my Husband, laptop, my 3 dogs and a very overactive imagination… Dragon Ball Z and any songs mentioned in this fic DO NOT belong to me. I'm just borrowing them for my own twisted amusement.

 

**_Falling Away With You_ **

**_Chapter 2_ **

It turned out she hadn’t had to do anything about Vegeta. It had now been nine months since the Cell games and she hadn’t seen or heard from him since their altercation in the kitchen and that had been almost six months ago; she estimated, give or take.

He hadn’t returned to Capsule Corporation for three weeks and when he had, he hadn’t made an appearance or a demand or anything and it was beginning to worry her somewhat despite her wanting nothing to do with him anyway.

Another month went by and still there was no sign of Vegeta other than an empty fridge every few days.

“I think he’s depressed, dear,” her mother finally said to her one morning.

“Well I get that, yea,” Bulma sighed. “But why?”

“I don’t know, dear,” her mother replied. “Maybe you should be the bigger person and find out. He has to be very lonely. I’m getting quite worried about him to be honest.”

“Trust me, whatever is bothering Vegeta, he won’t want to talk about it,” she snorted. _Least of all to me of all people._

“Well maybe at first, no,” her mother argued. She was determined to get those two on speaking terms at the very least. It simply broke her heart that Vegeta seemed to feel he could not interact with his son. “But maybe let him know that you’re there for him if he does need someone. Even if he doesn’t talk to you, it may be a comfort to him.”

“Yeah, right,”

“Just go up there and ask him to have a meal with you,” she suggested. “I don’t think he’s eaten anything in a few days judging by the fullness of my fridge. It just so happens that I prepared a ton of food and it’s a beautiful day. I was going to go call on your father and ask him if he’d like to have brunch outside but I think you should ask Vegeta to instead.”

“Mom, I really don’t think-”

“Do it,” she snipped at her. “At least extend the invitation and if he comes, great. If he doesn’t then your father and I will join you but at least try. It’s the least you could do after the terrible way you’ve treated him.”

Bulma was somewhat taken back by her mother’s stern tone. She hadn’t spoken to her like that since she was a little child and she knew that tone meant that there was no sense in arguing with her. “Alright,” she sighed in resignation. “Don’t be surprised if he blows a hole through the door and I’m nothing more than charred remains all over the carpet,”

“Well, be nice to him and that shouldn’t be an issue,” she replied dismissively.

Bulma shook her head and exited the kitchen. Her mother had absolutely zero understanding of who Vegeta was and what he was fully capable of. Even she knew that after everything that had transpired between them the best thing she could do would be to just leave him alone.

However, she did feel somewhat bad for him that he seemed to be depressed. It had been long enough that he should have shaken whatever it was that was bothering him and move on with life whether he remained here or left to go become the galactic overlord he seemed to have always dreamed of being.

Deciding she’d be as nice to him as possible, she racked up the courage to knock on his door.

She waited a moment before knocking again when she heard no response.

After waiting another few minutes, she opened the door a crack, peering into the darkened room. “Vegeta?” she whispered.

Once again, he didn’t respond and a weave of concern washed over her as her stomach dropped. _Was he dead,_ she wondered as she peered into the room and walked up to his bed. She felt relieved as she heard him breathing.

“Vegeta,” she tried again, poking him gently on his shoulder.

“Can you not take a hint? Get out and leave me alone!” he snarled, grabbing the comforter and burying himself under it.

Bulma stood there in the middle of his room, dumbfounded by his behaviour. It was so unlike him to just hibernate for weeks and months on end. Even after his accident when the gravity room exploded they’d had to pump him full of sedatives to keep him calm and it was the only way to keep him from walking out and commence his heavy training regimen again. Even then, he had caught onto that after a few days and ripped the IVs out of his arm and bullied his way out of the medical wing and he was right back at it full force even though his body must have been in incredible pain.

She winced now at the memory of that and remembered that despite her anger and worry at him for pushing himself so hard so soon after such a traumatic event, she had admired his dedication and determination to reach his goal. _That is the Vegeta I know; not this..._ she thought to herself sadly.

Making up her mind that he had sulked enough, she boldly walked up to his bed and quickly yanked the comforter off of him and tossed it to the other side of the room.

“What is wrong with you?” he shouted angrily. “What part of _leave me the fuck alone,_ do you not understand or is it that you have a death wish?”

She completely ignored him and walked over to his window and opened up the thick curtains, letting the late morning sunlight into the room.

“Because if you are so anxious to die, I can finish what that android started that day on the battle field only there will be no one to save you,” he cruelly went on, putting his hand out to shield his eyes from the sudden light as she opened the windows to let some fresh air into the stuffy room.

She shot him a dirty look even though she was fairly confident that he wouldn’t actually harm her or take her life. The mention of that incident was still hurtful to her however.  

“It is not like Kakarott is around to stop me anymore from ridding myself of your nuisance,” he continued. “The half-breed is too soft hearted and the Namek I am sure would not care less what happened to you!”

“I’m sick and tired of your moping,” she said finally, choosing to ignore his mean spirited rant. “It stinks in here because you’ve been all cooped up, your bedding needs to be cleaned. So I’ll tell you what, I have a huge feast organized for a picnic outside on this glorious day we are having. It will be just me and Trunks. Come out, blow some stink off, have some lunch and enjoy the sun and fresh air for a few minutes and I will have your room cleaned and freshened up and new sheets put on the bed while you do that and then you can go back to hibernating or whatever this is. Sound fair?” she said firmly.

Vegeta gave her a murderous look at the sheer audacity she had to come in here and disturb him and tell him what to do. _Blow some stink off? What the fuck does that even mean,_ he raged internally. He was about to decline in the most vicious tone he could come up with when he was interrupted by the loud and obvious growl of his stomach.

She smiled triumphantly as she heard his stomach answer and make the decision for him. “I’ll see you outside in a few,” she said cheerfully as she gathered up his comforter and stuffed it into the hamper. She would let her mother know to get him a clean one and change the sheets as well. “Trust me, it’s a picnic worthy of Saiyan royalty.”

Vegeta snorted in anger as he watched her scuttle out of his room. Sure he was hungry but he resented now having to go out and get his meal on her terms.

After sitting there petulantly for a few minutes, he got out of bed and opted for a shower before going to meet the dragon lady and the brat for lunch.

Bulma was walking on air, feeling quite pleased with herself for having conquered the sleeping Saiyan beast upstairs. _So he is depressed,_ she said to herself. _Mom was right after all._

“So?” her mother chirped cheerfully. “Did you get him to come out for a little bit?”

“I did,” she nodded, picking Trunks up from his high chair. “His bedroom and sheets and stuff could use some freshening up, it’s really stuffy in that room of his. Can you please just change his bedding?”

“Hmm, I think it would be a better idea if you did that, dear,” she suggested.

Bulma rolled her eyes at her mother and her obvious match making. “Fine, I’ll do it; but your transparent methods of trying to get Vegeta and I together are lame; even for you, just so you know,” she said, wanting to make it obvious to her mother that she knew exactly what she was trying to do. “Trust me, it will take a whole lot more than a good meal and cleaning his room to make him decide I’m wife material, mother.”

“Of course, dear, but a small, random act of kindness in the time of need can go a long way,” her mother commented wisely. “That boy is so down in the dumps, it simply breaks my heart. How could not spending a few hours in the beautiful outdoor weather with you and that adorable son of his not be enough to put even the most depressed soul in a good mood.”

“One can only hope,” Bulma sighed. _Though I’m not going to hold my breath. Nothing puts Vegeta in a good mood,_ she lamented to herself. “We'll be outside if you need us.”

“Alright dear,” her mother nodded. “Remember to be nice to Vegeta, no bickering. And I will put out some fresh sheets and towels.”

“Thanks, mom,” she said heading outside with Trunks.

She set him down on the blanket before decapsulating a little chair for him to sit in, like a ground level high chair. Since learning to walk, Trunks had become extremely mobile and she had to watch him like a hawk. He was a runner.

Bulma plunked him inside and began laying out the spread of food hoping to have everything all ready before Vegeta showed up; _if he shows up,_ she said to herself. While she wasn’t entirely sure whether or not he would, she did know that when food was a part of the equation, the chances were pretty good that any Saiyan wouldn’t be able to stay away for long. She wasn’t entirely certain how long it had been since his last meal, but she knew that it had been a while and that he hadn’t been eating as much as he should be.

No matter what their personal issues were, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for him and want to help him out of whatever this funk was; it was scaring her and she had no idea of what to do to even try and help him.

She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn’t even notice him approach them.

“Hey! You came!” she exclaimed cheerfully. Truthfully she wasn’t sure if he would or not.

He didn’t reply, only glanced briefly at Trunks and looked over the abundance of food that she had prepared for lunch.

As he stood there, looking uncomfortable, she patted the blanket in encouragement for him to join them. “Dig in,”

Vegeta glanced at Trunks again before walking over to the opposite side of the blanket so he wasn’t sitting near him.

“He doesn’t bite, Vegeta,” she sighed in disappointment before she could check her mouth. _Don’t be mean! This is supposed to be fun. That he actually showed up is a huge enough deal. Don’t screw it up!_

Vegeta shot her a somewhat dirty look but said nothing as he sat down. If she was going to do nothing but insult and berate him, he would leave; he didn’t have the energy to bicker with her but he would give her a chance. Hopefully the meal would at least be worth it and from the look of it, it was quite the feast.

Bulma handed him a plate so he could begin serving himself. “There you go,” she suddenly felt self-conscious and nervous as she realized that she had nothing to say to him. It had been so long since they had been in each other’s company by choice and when they were, they were far from cordial with one another.

Instead of worrying about what to say and what not to say to Vegeta, she just settled on fixing up a plate of food for Trunks and herself and worry about their interaction later. She wasn’t even sure herself about what she wanted or expected out of Vegeta. He was here, wasn’t he? _Just concentrate on being nice. Don’t say anything to piss him off._

Vegeta loaded up his plate and settled in. It was a gorgeous day today, he noticed and a small part of him didn’t mind that the woman had made him get up and come outside.

He knew that he needed to get a handle and start training again; all this wallowing in shame and self-pity was making him sink even deeper in his feelings of shame because he was ashamed of himself. He was ashamed of his performance on the battle field against not only the androids but Cell himself. It was because of him and his arrogance that Cell had achieved his perfect form, he was ashamed at how poorly he had treated the future version of his son. He was even ashamed of his inability to protect him and that Cell had killed him. It was no consolation to him that Future Trunks had been revived by the dragonballs. It should have never happened in the first place and he still had moments where he wished that it had been him who Cell had killed and not his son. He knew that he would not have been able to be revived but somehow that was alright with him. His life was like one big cruel joke.

Trunks coughing on something took him out of his melancholy thoughts and he looked at the toddler for a moment. That was his son. As much as he wanted to deny it, he knew it was true. The boy from the future was the grown version of this infant child and while he did feel some measure of pride in knowing that he would grow up and be exceptionally powerful, there was that shame again convincing him that he didn’t have anything to contribute or offer the boy. Knowing the future version of his son proved that.

In the other timeline, he would have been long dead by now. Bulma would have raised him mostly on her own and he had to give her credit where credit was due: she had done an exceptionally good job raising their son. So what was the point of getting involved? There was none from his point of view.

“Slow down and chew properly before swallowing,” Bulma said to Trunks who looked as though he was trying to rival his father and keep pace with him.

Vegeta observed them for a moment before turning back to his own meal and thoughts. “You are a good mother,” he accidentally said out loud as he watched her wipe his mouth and began tearing some of the food items on his plate into smaller portions so he would not choke on them.

Bulma froze and looked at Vegeta in shock. _Did he actually just say that,_ she asked herself as she wondered if he had actually said that or if she had imagined it?

The look in his face told her that he had not meant to say it but he indeed had said it.

Despite feeling overjoyed by that simple statement, she didn’t want to ruin it by making a big deal about it even though it was by far the nicest thing that he had ever said to her. “Thank you,” she said simply, smiling demurely at him. 

Vegeta awkwardly went back to his own meal, embarrassed that he had said what he had. He had only been thinking about the boy from the future and how it was this very same woman who raised him in that timeline and had done a good job. He knew it was certain that this version of Bulma would raise Trunks just as well if not better now that their home wasn't destroyed, but he hadn’t meant to say it out loud to her. He could tell from the smile she gave him that she had been touched by his slip up and he could tell she was trying to not show how happy she felt to hear that from him. While part of him regretted it because he did not want to give her the impression that he wanted anything to do with either her or Trunks, another part of him thought she should know and he wondered if the future version of Bulma knew that.

“You know, the gravity room is all fixed up and upgraded,” she said casually, wanting to change the subject as it had now gone back to awkward silence between them and she wanted to keep the positive vibe going. “I made some revisions after the Cell games. It’s in a capsule, but it’s in my lab on my desk with your name written on it.”

Vegeta didn’t reply for a moment. Once again, his inner self nagged at him that he needed to get back to training again, but deep down another part of him had absolutely no desire. _What was the point?_ There was no impending doom around the corner about to destroy this mud ball, _which is exactly why you need to be training. A real warrior must train hard even in times of peace because that is when things happen. When everyone else settles into a false sense of security. That is when your enemies will strike. That is why it is imperative to train even in times of peace, for there is no rest for true warriors,_ his father’s wise but stern voice echoed in his mind as though he had told him these things yesterday. _Peace is for women and weaklings._

_True,_ he replied to the inner voice of his that had taken on his father’s voice and reasoning. _But I do not give a shit about this place, so what does it matter?_

_It matters because you would bring down further disgrace and dishonour upon the Saiyan race by neglecting your duty as a member of the elite royal family,_ his father’s voice argued. _You are the last full-blooded Saiyan that remains in the entirety of the universe. You owe it to your ancestors to honour your heritage that way since you could not avenge our people by destroying Frieza._

Vegeta abruptly quit eating, stood up and took to the sky to fly as quickly as his strength would allow him to. He knew the voice in his head was his own and not those of his father actually haunting him but that did not make him feel any better. It was true. If his father could speak to him from beyond the next dimension that would be exactly what he would say to him.

He was a disgrace.

He was a disgrace to his heritage and to his own people. He was a traitor and disgrace of a warrior during his time in the PTO under Frieza, and he was a disgrace here by acting as a liability on the battlefield during the Cell games and refusing to confront this new role he had been forced into as a father. What good was he to anyone he wondered as he continued to fly around aimlessly.

Bulma blinked in confusion at Vegeta’s sudden and abrupt departure, wondering what she had done to set him off like that. She had thought things had gone well between them just now. Well, it was the best interaction they’d had since the night before the Androids appeared.

Why had mentioning the gravity room set him off like that? _Well I know he knows where it is, so when he wants to train, he’ll go train I guess,_ she shrugged, finishing up her own lunch. She needed to do Vegeta’s room so that it was ready for when he came back, _if he comes back._

-0-0-0-

It had been almost two months before Vegeta returned to Capsule Corporation.

Bulma had been beginning to worry and had considered calling up Krillin or Yamcha and asking them to make a search party for him. The only reason she hadn’t done that was because she assumed that would only make things worse and knowing Vegeta, he would stay away longer just on principal.

She wasn’t sure when exactly he had returned, she only knew he had because the kitchen fridge had been raided and was completely empty the next morning and his bedroom door had been shut.

Another month or so had passed before she had even caught a glimpse of him.

She had gone down to the kitchen getting some apple juice for Trunks. He had started throwing up about an hour prior and she figured he might like something other than water to drink now that he was settled in her bed now.

Bulma gasped as she turned around to head back upstairs when she noticed Vegeta sitting at the kitchen table. “You scared the shit out of me,” she said, placing a hand on her chest.

“Hmmn,” he grunted in response.

Instead of rushing out of the kitchen and back to Trunks, she paused a moment to look at him. He looked rough and tired as he was picking away at whatever was left on the plate in front of him. “There’s stuff in the freezer that mum made while you were gone,” she said, putting the glass of juice down on the table and going to the freezer. “There’s a couple of different lasagnes here, two meatloaves… I don’t know what this is, but there’s meat in it,” she said putting the corning ware dish containing the mystery meal on the countertop as she rummaged through the freezer.

Vegeta didn’t say anything as he watched her.

“Here,” she said as she took out a meatloaf and put it next to the casserole dish. “I’ll put these two in the oven for you. They’re cooked, just frozen so they’ll only need like an hour.”

He shrugged. “The brat is ill, why are you wasting your time?”

Bulma sighed in frustration, biting her tongue and refraining from saying something in retaliation. “Well, I’m putting them I the oven for you if you want them,” she sighed, placing them in the oven and setting the temperature and timer on it. She was sure she wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight anyway. “If not, they’ll be in the fridge after I warm them up.”

Vegeta didn’t comment further. He just wanted to be left alone. That was the reason he came out at this hour, because everyone in the house was asleep and he could eat in peace and then go back to bed.

Bulma took the juice and headed back to her bedroom where Trunks was asleep. She set the glass on her night table, kissed him on his warm forehead and went to crawl into the other side of her bed to try and get some sleep until she was woken up again by Trunks getting sick.

The next day, late in the afternoon, Trunks seemed to be feeling better and was fast asleep in her bed. Bulma was almost too exhausted to function. She did, however walk over to her office on the compound and decapsulated the gravity simulator for Vegeta since he was living at Capsule Corporation again. He may not want to socialize, but maybe it would give him something to do while he was up and about in the middle of the night. If he didn’t feel comfortable enough for whatever reason going to get it from her lab or asking her for it, she figured maybe if she left it out for him he may be inclined to use it.

It was still bothering her that he seemed to still be stuck into some kind of deep depression. It had been a year now since the Cell games and he was still unresponsive. It was beginning to worry her and she had debated for weeks now as to whether he needed a pep talk or just someone around who cared? She didn’t know, so she had left him alone for the most part, assuming that when he was ready, he would start with his previous training but that still hadn’t happened. 

She stood in the living room a moment, trying to decide where she should go. Trunks was asleep in her room so if she went there, she risked waking him up. Deciding to stay up despite her exhaustion, she headed towards Vegeta’s bedroom to tell him that she had set up the gravity room for him.

Bulma questioned herself a moment as soon as she reached the door, wondering if it was such a good idea to walk in there. Shrugging, she quietly opened the door and walked in, carefully closing it.

The heavy curtains were drawn, not leaving much light into the room despite the brightness from outside.

“Vegeta?” she whispered, unsure if he was asleep or awake.

There was no response.

“You know, there’s a perfectly good gravity room outside on the lawn with your name on it just waiting to be broken or blown up or even used to train I guess since you haven’t blown it up except for that one time,” she rambled nervously. Originally she’d had an up building, positive speech planned out but once she’d made it all the way up here and she realized who she was trying to give a pep talk to and suddenly she was nervous.

She couldn’t even really see him, he was buried beneath the blankets and she couldn’t even see his hair sticking out from beneath them. Unsure if he had even heard her or if he was asleep, she gently poked him on what she assumed was his back.

“Leave me alone, woman,” he growled irritably, remaining curled in the fetal position in his bed, his back to her.

Bulma stood there a moment, unsure of what to do. Things were apparently even worse than she thought. It had been _over a year_ since the Cell games and Vegeta was still keeping himself locked away, only coming out for meals in the middle of the night, if at all, from what she could tell.

After deliberating long and hard for a few minutes on what to do, it hit her again how exhausted she was and she decided to be bold. She threw the covers back and started to crawl into bed next to him.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” he snarled in outrage as she pulled the covers back over them and settled herself in, spooning him from behind.

“Taking a nap,” she replied as she wrapped her arms around his waist despite his objection.

“Your room is down the hall,” he growled. “Go take a nap there.”

“No,” she sighed, hugging him tightly to her. “Trunks is sleeping in my bed and I’m quite comfortable here, thanks.”

Vegeta sighed in annoyance. “I _was_ comfortable until you showed up to bother me.”

She ignored him, nuzzling her face into the back of his neck and breathing his scent in. _God I forgot how good he smells!_

When she didn’t respond, he decided to just leave it be. _Just_ _so_ _long_ _as_ _she_ _doesn’t_ _get_ _any_ _ideas_ , he told himself.

It took him a while to relent and decide to just let her remain as she was. He was not comfortable with Bulma’s close proximity and the last thing he wanted to do was start anything between them again. The last time had been a mistake and he had no intention of going there again with her and accidentally spawning any more brats.

Though he had to admit, it wasn’t completely unpleasant having her laying there with him innocently like this. It was a very different experience for him. _She_ was holding _him_. _Isn’t_ _it_ _supposed_ _to_ _be_ _the_ _other_ _way_ _around_ , he asked himself.  He remembered from the television shows he had watched with her before that it was usually the male who held and consoled the female. _Is that what she thinks she is doing,_ he asked himself and he had to admit, he did feel oddly comforted by the gesture if he thought about it. _But why would she feel the need to do that?_

“Stop over thinking it and go to sleep,” she mumbled into his neck. She knew he was wide awake and more than likely inwardly freaking out over this development. “I just came to make sure you’re still alive in here because we haven’t seen or heard from you in weeks and I really need to take a nap where it’s nice and quiet and I won’t get woken up by a needy toddler the moment I fall asleep, not proposing marriage or anything else so you can relax. Besides, I haven’t shaved my legs in weeks and I’m way too tired for sex so you’re safe if that’s why you’re worried.”

She felt him relax almost immediately at her admission that this meant nothing significant and as soon as he did, she snuggled herself in tighter behind him, ready to sleep.

Vegeta was relieved that he wasn’t expected to do anything or to reciprocate, though he did not want his allowing her to remain in his bed like this to mean that he was open to something more or for her to read it that way. He did however drift off back to sleep again within a few minutes.

Bulma woke up several hours later somewhat confused. It took her a few minutes to recognize her surroundings and remember that she had fallen asleep in Vegeta’s bed. She smiled to herself as she turned her head and realized he was still asleep next to her. She was laying on her back and he had rolled over at some point and was asleep on his stomach with an arm draped leisurely across her waist; he wasn’t holding her, but it was still physical contact all the same and she was surprised by how happy it made her feel.

She didn’t move. She did not want to disturb him and have him shove her away out of his own embarrassment, but she studied his face as best as she could under the minimal amount of light coming into the room from the drawn curtains.

Relaxed and asleep, Vegeta looked completely different. He looked younger and handsome. Not that he wasn’t striking to look at as he was usually, it was a different; almost softer and she found it almost more appealing than his usual trademark smirk and scowl he always wore. She only saw him asleep and innocent-looking like this only once before.

During their brief affair, she had woken up before him the second and final time they had spent the night together. She had been hard pressed to wake him and had left him to sleep while she had gotten up early to begin repairs on his gravity room, from what she recalled. Later on that morning it had been all over between them for reasons she still didn’t understand.

Bulma had plagued herself over and over again trying to figure what it had been exactly that had set him off. What had begun as a playful romp and hook up in the gravity room had turned around into a muddled mess mid-hook up and he had simply left her there, half dressed, very turned on and extremely embarrassed and confused as to what had happened.

Eventually she wrote it off as Vegeta just being temperamental and quit trying to rationalize and make sense of a situation that didn’t make sense to begin with. She actually hadn’t thought about that in a long time, she realized then. Laying here in his bed, so close to him like this had reawakened feelings she would have sworn were long gone by this point. Anything she’d felt for Vegeta had evaporated long ago before she'd even given birth to Trunks and were permanently buried when he had failed to save them or even give a damn when Android Gero had fired at her air car. _We can’t ever come back from that,_ she reminded herself. _Get a grip! He couldn’t be relied upon to save our lives so how can I ever trust him with our hearts?_

Disappointment flooded her as she thought back on that incident a year ago. He had never brought it up and neither had she, which was probably a good thing, she reasoned. She knew they both had strong feelings of bitterness related to it for different reasons and she wished she could go back and change it. _Why didn’t I listen to him?_ She asked herself for the millionth time. Would things be different between them if she hadn’t gone that day?

_Probably not,_ she scoffed to herself. _Vegeta’s still his difficult self, that wouldn’t have changed any._

Still, it made her wonder. She was worried about him. Sure Vegeta had always been sort of reclusive even during the three years he had spent training for the androids; but this was different.  It was like he had chosen to keep himself exiled and closed off from everyone and everything else around him. Before, he at least joined her family for dinner, participated in the odd verbal spar with her, which had eventually turned into a game of sorts between them; a game she missed very much when she thought about it. It was a game they had both played and had lost. She supposed Trunks was a decent enough consolation prize, but she should have never looked at him as a game. It had been reckless and foolish and had hurt them both she suspected, him possibly more so than herself even; judging by the way he had avoided her like the plague after their brief fling had ended. The only meaningful conversation they’d had since then had been in the wee hours of the early morning the day of the androids arrival. Anything since then was nothing more than strings of insults and hurtful, spiteful words aimed at making a mark and inflicting as much emotional damage to the other as possible.

_There will never be a victor in that,_ she told herself, feeling somewhat ashamed of herself for some of the vicious remarks that came out of her own mouth. Never in her life had she been as nasty to another person as she could be to Vegeta; not even Yamcha when she’d learned of his unfaithfulness.

All the drama and animosity aside, Bulma couldn’t help but pity him.

He was a _displaced person_. In every sense of the term in a non-derogatory but tragic sense and she was truly concerned about him. He seemed to have spiralled into a pit of deep depression since the Cell games. She didn’t know all of what had occurred, only bits and pieces; but it had left him nearly broken as a man and a warrior and despite wanting to revel in that for all the pain he had caused her, she simply couldn’t bring herself to rejoice. 

Bulma carefully maneuvered herself so as to not disturb him as she got out of his bed. She scarcely believed he had allowed her to stay to begin with and did not want to spoil it by staying too long. He’d have probably freaked out if he had woken up before her.

She carefully pulled the covers over him again and stood there looking at him another moment. She made a decision then and there, no more fighting, no more insults; at least from her side. They may not have a romantic future together, but she wanted to try and help him nonetheless.

-0-0-0-

A whole year and a half passed since then and there still was not much change.

Vegeta seemed to spend a little more time outside his room and made more frequent appearances around the compound but Bulma’s interaction with him was still fairly limited. She still made the effort to be nice to him whenever she saw him but he never lingered when she approached him or reciprocated when she asked him if he wanted to join her or Trunks for a meal or a trip to the park, much to her growing frustration at him.

He never trained in the gravity room from what she could tell, despite it being set up in its usual place in the yard and he’d left Capsule Corporation a few times. Where he went, she had no idea. Sometimes he would be gone for only a week or two and sometimes he was gone for a few months and because Bulma was so busy with Trunks and with additional responsibilities within the company, the time had flown by so quickly she barely noticed Vegeta’s comings and goings and scarce appearances.

Today she was running late. She had been up far too late going through mountains of paperwork for organizing permits and licencing for their newest line of products. It was a headache and she now understood why her father had passed the responsibility to her, she realized grudgingly a few weeks ago.

Bulma jumped in the shower, quickly did her hair and makeup and dressed in record time. As she headed downstairs to grab a coffee and breakfast muffin on her way out, she happened to notice that Trunks wasn’t in his room. She shrugged it off and figured he was having breakfast.

Once she made it to the kitchen, she noticed he wasn’t there either and felt a slight wave of panic.

“Mom, where’s Trunks?” she asked her mother who was frying up enough eggs and sausage to feed a small army.

“Look outside, dear,” she said, pointing to the window with a smile.

Bulma looked out the window and wouldn’t have been more shocked if she'd seen pigs flying in the sky. There was Vegeta, sitting cross legged on the grass meditating and a few feet in front of him was Trunks, facing him and doing the same thing. It was like a mirror image only one was smaller than the other.

“How did this come about?” she asked her mother once the initial shock of it wore off.

“A few days ago,” Mrs. Briefs answered, handing her a mug for her coffee. “Trunks didn’t want to go to the supermarket with me and started quite the racket. So much so that it disturbed Vegeta,”

Bulma winced. “Oh, god,” she groaned as she could only picture the scene of a miserable 3 year old toddler throwing a temper tantrum and an angry Saiyan that had been disturbed from his self-imposed slumber and exile.

“He didn’t say anything,” she continued. “I simply explained that the little guy wanted to stay here instead of going out with me and I asked him if he wouldn’t mind watching him for a little while for me while I ran a few errands.”

“Oh god,” she groaned again, fearing the worst.

“It was fine, dear. He just sort of shrugged and picked Trunks up by the back of his shirt and looked at him a moment and that seemed to calm him right down,” her mother brushed off with a dismissive wave of her hand. “I think the poor little boy was only wanting to spend some time with his father.”

_Or his father simply scared the shit out of him is more likely,_ Bulma said to herself as she poured herself some coffee into her travel mug. She knew how frightening Vegeta could look when he was irritated or put out. “He wasn’t mean to him, was he?” she asked, having visions of Vegeta shaking him to make him be quiet or worse.

“Oh no, not at all,” Mrs. Briefs replied. “I was actually really impressed with him. He was firm with him, but let’s be honest here, I think we’ve kind of spoiled the poor little guy a bit. I think Vegeta will be good for him. Trunks seemed to really enjoy their time together. When I got back that’s what they were doing,” she said, gesturing out the window. “I even was able to grab my camera and get a picture of them because I didn’t think you would believe me even if I told you.”

“No, I wouldn’t,” she shook her head still somewhat in shock over this new development as she watched them. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I forgot,” she shrugged. “I’ve barely seen you, you’ve been so busy. It’s alright that Vegeta has been spending a little bit of time with Trunks, I hope. I didn’t think you would mind.”

“No, no its fine, mom,” she shook her head. “Just so long as you don’t think he will lose his patience and do something,”

“Like what, dear?” her mother sighed. “I don’t think you give that young man enough credit. He may be a bit rough around the edges and irritable at times but he’s not stupid. Trunks is just a toddler. Anyone knows you can't manhandle a toddler. I’m positive he’ll be just fine. It’s good for both of them.”

Bulma nodded guiltily. She knew she didn’t give Vegeta enough credit. He had remained on this planet for long enough without blowing anything but the Gravity room up. He hadn’t killed anyone, not even her which she knew in the last while must have been a feat for him to restrain from simply blasting her. However Vegeta wasn’t human. He was raised a child warrior. She had no idea how he had been raised or treated by his own father. She only assumed that he came from a barbaric culture and that he would have been raised in a very tough environment even before he had been given over to Frieza.

“I know I don’t give him enough credit, mom and while I'd agree that he wouldn't do anything to intentionally harm Trunks, we also don’t know what he considers normal treatment of a toddler for him _culturally._ It may be a stark contrast to what we consider normal or acceptable is more my main worry.”

“I understand, sweetie,” Mrs. Briefs said knowingly. “But don’t jump to any conclusions and just give him a chance. He’s been out of that room a few hours a day since this recent development. I think it’s wonderful. So far I haven’t seen anything that should cause you any concern or worry so don’t say anything to him that might make him stop spending time with Trunks. Trunks seems to be really enjoying it and I think it would break his little heart.”

Part of Bulma agreed with her mother and the other part wasn’t so sure; after all, she was a pretty much hands off parent and she had practically raised herself. _I’m still alive though,_ she shrugged mentally and that had to count for something. “Alright, mom, I’ll trust him. Just please keep an eye on them alright?”

“I will, dear,” Mrs. Briefs said, continuing to make breakfast. “On your way out can you let them know that their breakfast is nearly done?”

“Sure,” she replied, tossing a cheese and egg muffin into a plastic sandwich bag and heading towards the door.

Bulma walked out cautiously into the back yard towards Trunks and Vegeta. It was such a strange, almost surreal sight to see them sitting so close together. Not to mention she didn’t think she’d ever seen Trunks so still and quiet for so long; usually he was a going, constant concern.

“Hey, Vegeta,” she said quietly, knowing that he may not like being disturbed but she had told her mother she would let them know breakfast was ready.

“Hmmn,” he grunted. He had sensed her approaching them a few minutes ago.

“Sorry, but mom wanted me to let you know that breakfast is ready,”

“It is?” Trunks exclaimed excitedly, opening his eyes. He was getting hungry and he didn’t really understand what his father was doing, he only wanted to impress him.

“Wait,” Vegeta said sternly to Trunks. “And you lost. Again.” he added with a smirk.

“Awe,” he whined.

Bulma frowned. “Lost at what?”

“To see who can be quiet the longest,” Trunks answered. “I lost this many times today.” he admitted, holding out four fingers.

Bulma shot Vegeta an amused look and he half expected her to begin some tirade over it but she didn’t.

“He takes after his mother in that department apparently,” he said in a serious tone but she could tell from the glint in his eye that he was teasing her. “You may go, boy,” he said to Trunks. “But walk, do not run.”

Trunks nodded and power walked back to the house. Bulma couldn’t help but snort at the unimpressed look on Vegeta’s face as he shook his head.

“He’s technically walking, not running,” she pointed out.

He gave her a look that told her he was unimpressed with her rationale. “Now I know where the boy gets it,” he said dryly, though he was not angry. It was not lost on him how nice she looked, despite not being overly done up as she usually was for work; however he deliberately made a point of not obviously looking at her.

Bulma laughed and nodded. “I think it’s really good you’re spending some time with him,” she said wanting him to know she was glad he was actually spending time with him but not wanting to make a big deal out of it and make him uncomfortable.

“Hmmmn,” he grunted. “He is spoilt.”

“Yea, just a bit,” she sighed.

“More than _a bit,_ ” he scoffed in disapproval. “He needs to realize and learn that the universe does not revolve around him and not everyone is here to cater to his every whim and desire,”

Bulma had to catch herself and supress her laughter at the irony of his statement. Vegeta was the most self-absorbed person she had ever met and she often wondered if he knew the world _didn’t_ in fact revolve around him. While a part of her was simply _dying_ to tease him that it was possibly a hereditary trait that Trunks may have inherited from him, she refrained. This was the first non-antagonistic conversation they’d had since the Cell games had ended and she was simply thrilled that he was showing even the smallest interest in Trunks.

Sure annoying and pushing Vegeta’s buttons was one of her most favourite pastimes but she decided to be the mature one for a change and not go there.

“Well, then hanging out with you will be good for him,” was all she said. “Just if he gets to be a bit much, don’t hesitate to get my mother to watch him.”

“Noted,” he nodded and stood up to head into the kitchen for his breakfast.

Bulma couldn’t hold back a small smile as she watched him head into the house a moment before heading towards her air car. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt this happy about something, anything.

It was going to be a good day, she decided, not caring that she was going to be very late getting into the office today.


	3. Chapter 3

The weeks following Bulma’s discovery that Vegeta was showing a slight interest in Trunks flew by quickly for her. She tried to remain as hands off as possible, not wanting to do anything to possibly discourage or derail these new, almost miraculous advancements.

No, she and Vegeta still weren’t interacting much except for when in passing so their conversations were very brief and usually only pertained to Trunks but they weren’t negative or cutting in anyway, which was a relief to both of them.

In the end, it was beginning to work out in Bulma’s favour because her father had transferred her to the sales department of Capsule Corporation around the same time. It was the only department she had yet to get her feet wet in and she had been avoiding it as long as possible.

Bulma hated sales.

She recognized that sales were essential to the survival of the company, after all they sold their inventions to the public; but she had no desire to set foot on that side of the business. Bulma’s strengths were in the lab designing, creating, building and improving their inventions. Not selling them.

Her father, however insisted that if she was to be taking over Capsule Corporation one day, she needed to have experience with every department and job that the company had to offer should there ever be a shortage somewhere so that she could jump right in and fill any and every position. She agreed with the rationale behind that, he was right; but she had absolutely zero interest to do with anything in sales.

Not only did this force her into a niche that she was not uncomfortable with, but it also meant double the hours she was used to working. Since she’d started as an assistant sales manager on the floor a few weeks back, she had just barely had time to see and spend time with Trunks.

The only positive in all of this was it came at the same time that Vegeta was beginning to show an interest in Trunks, which was nice because it took some of the pressure off of her poor mother.

Just yesterday morning, she happened to mention to him in passing on her way out the door that her mother had appointment in the afternoon and would most likely not be back until late so not to expect dinner at the regular time. As per her new work schedule, Bulma didn’t return home until the evening time after Trunks had been put to sleep. Her mother informed her that Vegeta not only took Trunks for a little while in the morning for their now usual meditation sessions but he had shown up around the time Bulma had told him that her mother was getting ready to leave and watched Trunks until she had come home.

Bulma knew it wasn’t that big a deal, but it _was_. For Vegeta to have done that meant a lot to her and it gave her some hope that maybe they could agree on some sort of co-parenting schedule. Sure she wasn’t expecting him to become a full-time babysitter while she was at work but it made her feel good that she possibly had someone else to rely on in terms of caring for Trunks than just her mother.

It made her feel good in any case that Vegeta was at least attempting to spend time with Trunks and that was all she really cared about she thought as she got off the elevator and darted into her office.

_Late again,_ she sighed to herself as she tossed her purse on the floor. She needed to get going and get her things together for their morning sales meeting. _So stupid,_ she groaned inwardly to herself as she began looking for the notes she’d prepared.

There were several call lists from the database that they’d not tapped into in several years. Capsule Corporation had grown so much since then that it was virtually an untouched demographic.

“Shit,” she cursed under her breath as she went through the scattered mess on her desk.

“Need any help?” asked Derek, who was the second assistant sales manager. He had worked in their sales department for years and had gotten the promotion of assistant sales manager the same time she had; not only because he was one of their top sales people but because he had been there for so long.

Bulma wasn’t sure how old he was but she assumed around the same age as herself. He was smart, tall, handsome, well dressed and very confident. She had of course met him many times over the years at company functions and he was always very polite to her. Despite not knowing him very well, she was relieved that he had been promoted the same time she had so they were both experiencing the same learning curve and it was becoming quite evident that they worked extremely well together.

 “No, I’m just looking for those new phone lists I found last night,” she sighed, flipping through a mass of paperwork. “I stayed an extra hour later than I needed to just to have this shit ready this morning. I thought I’d left it on top,”

“On top of what?” he asked in amusement.

“The pile,”

“I realize that, but _which_ pile?” he clarified with a chuckle.

“Very funny!” she snipped at him however she knew in all fairness her office _did_ look like a bomb had gone off and her desk was ground zero. “I know it _looks_ like a mess, but it really isn’t. It’s organized,”

“An organized mess,”

“Yea,” she paused, shooting him another look that told him to drop the subject of the state of her office.

Derek was quiet a moment as he watched her look for her papers in a flustered manner. He’d always liked her from the first time they’d met at his first Christmas gala with Capsule Corporation. Sure he’d seen her before here and there and he’d seen her in the tabloids every once in a while and like everybody else thought she was stunningly gorgeous, but he hadn’t actually met her until that party and that was when he’d decided that he _really_ liked her.

She was polite and funny and she didn’t think she was better than anyone else because her dad owned the company. There were many who spoke negatively about her, presumably out of jealousy, but from what he’d seen and now experienced while working with her these past several weeks, she was just as intelligent as rumoured. She carried herself well, was confident and not just another ditzy heiress socialite who liked to party and spend daddy’s money. She worked just as hard, if not harder than any other employee he’d met and she knew just about everything about every single product in their inventory. She was professional and didn’t have time for stupid people or corporate politics. If she didn’t like you, you knew it and she was quick to commend others on a job well done.

He liked her very much but only admired her from a far all this time. Working with her had been a complete joy for him and he had been thinking about a way of asking her out these past few weeks they had been working together.

“We should go out one of these days,” he suggested casually as she was frantically trying to find her notes for the sales meeting

“Us? No,” she exclaimed in surprise and paused from her rummaging a moment before shaking her head and resuming her search. “My personal life is _really_ complicated.”

“Well, you’re the brilliant Bulma Briefs. If your personal life _wasn’t_ complicated, I think I’d find myself somewhat disappointed.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” she chuckled, choosing to be amused by his comment rather than offended. “It’s _beyond_ complicated.”

“So you have a son,” he shrugged. “Big deal. That’s not a deal breaker for me, I like kids.”

“Alright, well what if I told you that my son’s father _lives_ with us,” she countered. If being a single mother wasn’t a deal breaker she was sure that this would be. “We aren’t together, but he is a permanent resident at my home.”

He paused a moment as he mulled that new piece of information over. He had never heard her talk about Trunks’ father and had assumed that he was simply out of the picture altogether, never mind _living_ with them. “A permanent resident, huh? Meaning...”

“Meaning that he will _always_ be around in some capacity. And even if I did decide to find myself someone, that someone would have to be alright with and accept that. They would have to understand that Vegeta's home is Capsule Corporation and that even though we aren’t together as a couple, he isn’t going anywhere. That someone would have to accept that.”

“Well, I’m sure if there’s no chance of anything going on between you and him anymore then that someone _may_ be alright with it. Maybe they’d even become friends with him,”

Bulma snorted. “Vegeta isn’t like anyone you have ever met,”

“You aren’t like anyone I’ve ever met,”

“Alright, Vegeta doesn’t have _friends_ and no one is friends _with_ Vegeta. It isn't done,” she sighed.

“Well everyone needs at least one friend,”

“Vegeta isn’t like _everyone,_ ” she insisted. “He’s antisocial, he doesn’t like anyone and he doesn’t like to be bothered. He’s not some guy you can just call up to go to the gym or to hang out with and have a few beers while watching the game. He... He’s impossible and doesn’t _get_ the concept of interacting with people on a social level,” she tried to explain, feeling bad that she was making him out to sound like he was nothing more than a social reject with severe mental issues.

Derek chuckled. “He’s so impossible but you managed to make a child with him?”

“Yea,” she sighed. “That’s a whole ‘nother story on a day where I can drink a whole lot of wine.”

“Then come out with me and we’ll have wine and discuss failed relationships,” he joked.

“Do you have a girlfriend?” she asked pointedly, not recalling ever seeing him at any functions with another girl before. On the other hand, she had never made a point of noticing either.

“Not for a few years,” he admitted, crossing his arms and leaning against one of her office chairs. “Which another reason _why_ we should go out.”

“I can’t,” she said again and shook her head beginning to become very frustrated with not being able to find her stuff. “It’s not personal, I’d love to but I work way too many hours and barely see my son as it is. I wouldn’t feel right taking a night off and going out on a date.”

_A_ _date_ , she chuckled inwardly to herself. Now there was a word and activity that had become nearly foreign to her since she and Yamcha had broken up. Come to think of it, the last date she’d gone on was with Yamcha. “Not to mention that I don’t think my father would approve of me dating a fellow employee of the company. Not sure what the policy is on that, but I don’t think he’d be too pleased.”

“Yet he lets the father of your son live under the same roof,” he said jokingly before thinking better of it. “Sorry, that was maybe crossing the line a bit there.”

“It was, but that’s ok. You have a point,” she agreed. “But again, it’s not your typical situation.”

“Another story for another day?”

“Yea,” she nodded, placing her hands on her hips and looking around her office.

“So that’s _two dates_ I get to take you on then,”

“Ha haa don’t hold your breath,” she snorted. “Hey! Are those my lists on that chair you’re leaning on?”

Derek looked down at the chair and looked at them and nodded. “Looks like it,”

“Fuck my _life_!” she groaned, stomping over to the chair and picking them up. “Alright, now that we’re late, let’s go!”

Derek smirked at her and followed her into the board room. He wasn’t discouraged by her declining his invitation to go out with him. It obviously wasn’t personal and it seemed like it wasn’t something she’d considered. He’d leave her alone for a few weeks and let the idea simmer with her before asking her again.

The rest of the day flew by for Bulma. Fortunately nothing else went wrong, but she was still late leaving the office and was beyond exhausted by the time she’d made it home.

“Thank god it’s Saturday,” she groaned out loud as she dropped her keys and purse on the floor. Sunday was the only day she had off because that was the only day the sales department was closed. _I need a bath and_ _a very large glass of wine,_ she thought to herself as she made her way into the kitchen.

She opened a bottle of her favorite red wine, grabbed a glass and headed up the stairs to her room. Once up there, she started running her bath and walked out of her room to check on Trunks. They had moved his room from her bonus room into his own room across the hall from her room and Vegeta’s room, who was directly next to hers.

It had been several months now since they had moved him and Bulma was glad to have the privacy and space of her own again but a part of her really missed not having Trunks so nearby. He’d been a really good baby and not much of a fuss at all.

Of course, he was fast asleep, she thought sadly as guilt began to weigh on her again at how demanding this new position was becoming. _It’s only for a few months,_ she told herself again as she always did when she began to feel bad again for all the time she was spending away from Trunks.

She kissed him lightly on the forehead so as not to wake him and exited his room to check on her bath to make sure it wasn’t over running.

Bulma checked it to make sure it wasn’t becoming too hot and when she was satisfied, went to pour herself a glass of her wine and went to find her pajamas when she noticed Vegeta walk down the hall.

“Hey!” she called out to him, skipping towards her door.

Vegeta stopped, crossed his arms and turned to look at her in reply.

“I heard you watched Trunks yesterday afternoon for my mom,” she said.

Vegeta snorted in reply. _Of course the old woman would have made a big deal of that,_ he thought to himself. “You strategically mentioned her time of departure for a reason,”

Bulma felt her face turn slightly red at his accusation. “Well, I mentioned it so that you wouldn’t bitch over why there was no dinner if you decided to join my parents for dinner, as I heard you have been recently.”

“Someone needs to teach the brat some table manners,” he replied sourly. “I will not have him making the same disgusting display at the table that clown Kakarott had and his spawn seem to have inherited from him.”

Bulma held back a chuckle. “Good idea, thanks.”

“Hmmn,”

“How has he been?” she asked. “Hang on, I need to shut my water off before it overflows. Come in!” she said, racing back into her room and turning off the tap water.

Vegeta cautiously walked into her room. He didn’t like being in here and only had come in when Trunks had been occupying her attached bonus room and only when Bulma was sleeping or at work. Even then, it bothered him. He could remember quite vividly the things they had done together in this room and he never dwelled on that except when he came into this room for whatever reason.

“So?” she asked, coming back into her room to find him standing in the middle of the floor looking awkward. “Do you want some wine?” she asked him, offering him her glass.

He shook his head at her.

“Alright,” she nodded, not surprised that he declined her offer but still feeling slightly disappointed. “How was your day?”

“Fine,” he answered.

“Good,” she nodded again. “How was Trunks? I feel so bad I haven’t had a chance to spend any time with him,”

“He’s fine,” he shrugged. “Becoming less of a whiney brat you turned him into,”

“I didn’t turn him into a brat!” she objected in offence.

“You’re right,” he snorted. “Your mother and father played a hand in turning him that way as well,”

“Like you’re the authority on raising children,” she said sourly. “It’s not like they come with an operators manual.”

“No, they do not but it is not rocket science either.”

“Look, I don’t want to argue with you on parenting ideologies, alright? I just wanted to thank you for helping out with him like you have been. I know I haven’t been around a lot and I feel terrible about that but I want you to know that you taking time out of your day to help my mom out with him means the world to me,” she said nervously. “Mom says she’s noticed a very positive change in Trunks and while I haven’t seen that, I know it’s because of your doing.”

“Like I said, _someone_ has to teach the boy manners as you and your parents seem to be inept,”

“Right,” she nodded, not wanting to argue with him. “Whatever your reasons, I wanted to let you know how much I appreciate it and was wanting to talk to you about it a little just so we are on the same page with him.”

“What is there to talk about?” he asked, crossing his arms.

“Nothing huge, just I’d like to know what rules and boundaries you’ve set in place so I don’t do anything to mess that up and confuse him or undermine you is all,” she shrugged, trying to explain what she meant to tell him so he would understand. “If you’re helping me with raising him then I think it’s important that we both be in agreement on how we raise him and make sure we’re both consistent.”

Vegeta thought about it. “Be more specific,”

“Well for example say you don’t let him run around the house at mach one whenever he wants and then when I see him on evenings or on Sundays he runs around the house and I allow it,” she explained. “The rules should be the same no matter which one of us has him. Does that make sense?”

“Hmmn,” Vegeta nodded in agreement. “It does,”

“Alright!” she smiled. “Well, I’m exhausted. I had stupidly long week and I really need to unwind. Want to talk about it tomorrow some time? I’m off. Maybe the three of us could spend some time together?”

Vegeta looked at her a moment, unsure if he was comfortable with that. He was suddenly feeling like she was cornering him into something and he didn’t like it. Sure he had been spending some time with the boy recently but that was all he had signed on for. He wasn’t putting himself out for her benefit. He wasn’t even sure why he had even bothered in the first place. It was becoming a regular part of his day to day routine and he still wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

“We will discuss it at a later time,” he said. “You are not working tomorrow therefore you are to look after him tomorrow.”

“Well, that was my plan, Vegeta,” she sighed in aggravation. “I just thought it would be nice if I included you in that time too is all,”

“Just because I spend time with him during the week in your absence does not mean I want to start playing house with you,” he reminded her before abruptly turning and exiting her room.

“I wasn’t _asking_ you to play house, you jerk!” she shouted after him, not thinking about possibly waking Trunks. She stood there a moment, waiting to hear if she had woken him up but it was silent. “Ugh!” she groaned out load and headed into her bathroom to take her bath.

_Oh, yea, I really needed this,_ she thought to herself as she sunk into the warm water and took in the warmth and calm and peace and quiet. She had been so busy she hadn’t really taken any time for herself in the last few months.

As she lay back with her eyes closed and sipped her wine, she tried to not think about work and the stresses of this new position and the targets they were all expected to hit. _How does anyone live like that,_ she wondered. _How does Derek live like that? He’s been in sales forever and he just thrives on it._

_Derek,_ she sighed. He’d asked her out today and while it had taken her completely by surprise and she had been flattered, she wasn’t sure what to do about it. Sure she liked him. She liked him a _lot_ actually. If her life weren’t so complicated and she didn’t have Trunks she would have probably jumped at the opportunity to go out with him. _Ugh, what are you even thinking?_ She chastised herself. _You can’t go out with him! He’s your co-worker, not to mention how is that going to work since Vegeta lives here?_

She groaned out loud again. She couldn’t let him pursue her no matter how attracted to him she was. It just wouldn’t work. She sat in her hot water thinking about that a moment. It was tempting. Bulma hadn’t had a boyfriend since Yamcha as she didn’t categorize Vegeta as an ex-boyfriend. She hadn’t been on a real date since she and Yamcha had broken up. Hell she hadn’t had sex since she and Vegeta had hooked up and that was nearly five years ago now, she estimated. _Right. Trunks is almost four so yea, it’s been that long, alright. God that’s depressing!_

Bulma wasn’t even sure what to do about this. Things between her and Vegeta were finally on somewhat good terms; did she really want to throw a new relationship into the equation and potentially put stress on that? More importantly, how would Vegeta react if she brought home a potential boyfriend?

She let that thought hang on for a moment. _How would he react if I found someone,_ she asked herself seriously. She honestly didn’t have a clue. Part of her figured he wouldn’t care less. As he so rudely reminded her just now that he had no desire to “play house” with her. _Well if I find someone that does want to play house with me then he’s just going to have to go fuck himself,_ she told herself. _I don’t want to play house with him either!_

However as soon as she thought that, she knew that she was lying to herself. If she found herself another guy, she knew that no matter how serious it got with that person, if Vegeta ever expressed an interest in her, she would drop everything, anything and anyone to be with him. _Like a pathetic high school girl,_ she sighed to herself.

Bulma thought long and hard about it. Things were only just now beginning to turn around with her and Vegeta. He wasn’t keeping himself completely secluded anymore and he was actually spending time with Trunks, which made her so happy the last thing she wanted to do was rock the boat and create unnecessary tension between them again.

Besides, maybe if she just let things evolve naturally like she had been, maybe there was a chance Vegeta may have a change of heart where she was concerned. She knew it was dangerous for her to even hope for that but maybe if she was patient and waited for him to come to her maybe there was a future there for them.

Bulma nodded to herself, she would wait for him.

0-0-0

Vegeta decided to leave Capsule Corporation and spend the night out on one of his favourite secluded areas. He liked to go out there to think and clear his head without the influence of anyone else.

No sent of Bulma creeping up to tempt him. No chance of Trunks crying and disturbing him from his thoughts, though that was a rare occurrence these days. Trunks wasn’t a baby anymore, he was a child. He had been working hard at toughening him up a bit so he wasn’t such a cry baby. So far he thought Trunks was doing pretty good and he was discovering that he actually didn’t mind spending time with him now that he could talk and walk and use the bathroom on his own.

He had to admit that had he not been woken up those several weeks back by the boy’s temper tantrum he probably still wouldn’t be having anything to do with him now and he would still be in that deep dark mind set he’d been in for the last few years.

He had been asleep when he’d heard the racket which was nearly becoming a daily occurrence. It drove him crazy and made him begin to feel resentful. Why were they simply allowing him to behave that way and then reward it by caving and giving into his tantrums? He understood that Bulma’s parents did this so as to shut him up but in the weeks leading up to him intervening it was becoming worse instead of better until he decided he could not take it anymore.

He had angrily crawled out of bed, dressed himself and stormed downstairs into the front living room where Bulma’s mother was trying to unsuccessfully dress the boy in a jacket. He didn't say anything, just picked him up by the back of his t-shirt and brought him up to his eye level and looked sternly at him.

It was just as he has suspected. The boy was simply making a fuss over nothing. He was wailing and carrying on as though something horrible was about to happen to him and yet there wasn’t a tear in his eye.

Trunks had gone quiet almost immediately and Mrs. Briefs was so thankful for the reprieve she had asked him to watch Trunks for her and before he knew it, he was stuck alone with the child with no clue as to how to interact with him or what he should do with him. What did one do with a child?

The only memories he’d had with his father were mostly of training and they weren't necessarily _good_ memories. He wouldn’t quite classify them as bad either. He was born a warrior prince to a warrior culture. It was expected that he begin his training as soon as he learned to walk.

He had been expected to keep up with his father during training. There was no coddling. The rule had been keep up or be prepared to take a beating so he had learned real quick how to block and avoid taking damage.

That was all he knew of raising a son if he used his own father as a reference. He wasn’t even sure if his father was right or wrong. All he knew was that was all he knew and he was certain Bulma would not agree.

During his time here on this planet, he had observed that this culture seemed to overly coddle and shelter their young. It was a small wonder to him why this planet was inhabited by weaklings. They raised their young to be weak and defenceless. It didn’t make sense to him.

While he felt he had little to no obligation to train the boy, a part of him really didn’t want his son to grow up to be another weak human. He thought of Gohan. The boy had so much potential yet that harpy mate of Kakarott’s refused to allow him to reach that potential so the boy was soft and weak. He assumed now that Kakarott was gone for good that she would raise their second child the same way and he too would be weak. It bothered him.

On top of that, having seen the potential his son had from observing the future version of him, he felt it was a waste almost to not work with him and he was beginning to consider it despite his vow after the Cell games to never train again.

He wasn’t sure why he was suddenly feeling the need to train the boy, but he was. He himself may be finished with training but he knew he had a certain amount of obligation to teach his son and honour his heritage that way. With any luck, he would become stronger than Gohan and that alone was something that gave him pride. He himself may have been surpassed by both the third class and his offspring but his own son had great potential and he could not fully justify not training Trunks.

That was why he was bothering. 

Vegeta thought back on his conversation with Bulma this evening. No, he did not want her to think that he was wanting to settle into a domestic family role. That did not appeal to him, nor did he want her to think that his staying here had anything to do with her.

He did however agree with her that if he was to stay here and assist somewhat in Trunks upbringing, they did need to come to some agreement. He had no problem discussing that with her but he also did not want her to read more into his actions than what they were.

He would let her know the next time they spoke that he would like to begin training Trunks. He was old enough. Already he had begun working on the boys attention span and teaching him to meditate. He knew he didn’t fully grasp the concept of what they were doing, but it was a start. He could tell that it would take little effort to teach the boy how to form a ki ball. However it was concentration that was needed in order to control it and not destroy everything in the immediate area. So he had begun to teach him how to concentrate.

Vegeta decided he would speak with her tomorrow. He would not join her in her activities with the boy, but he would make a point of speaking with her to make an agreement with her where Trunks was concerned.

The question did run through his head of what he would do if she would not allow him to train the boy. He thought about it a moment, unsure of what he would do.

He would leave, he decided. He had nothing else to offer the boy except training. If the woman didn’t want that then there was no reason for him to remain here.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Chapter 4_ **

Sunday went by so quickly for Bulma she almost felt like she hadn’t had a day off. She’d been able to sleep in a bit before Trunks came bounding into her room early to wake her up and insist they do something.

She’d gotten breakfast with her parents and then she and Trunks had spent most of the day at the park. Vegeta had been nowhere to be seen, much to her disappointment. She wasn’t overly shocked, but she had hoped he may turn up to spend some time with Trunks; even if it had only been for five or ten minutes.

The rest of the day had gone by quickly and she had just finished putting Trunks to bed. It was early evening and while she loved spending time with Trunks, she was more than welcoming the alone time for the rest of her evening before she started back at square one tomorrow with another long, exhausting week ahead of her. It was her plan to binge watch some of her favourite shows she was behind on and then take a nice long bath before going to bed early.

She was just in the middle of making herself a snack of cheese and crackers to go with her wine night cap when she suddenly noticed Vegeta lean into the door frame with his arms crossed.

“Hey,” she said, acknowledging him despite still feeling disappointed that he had been a no show today. She was going to say something snarky to him but then thought better of it. What was the point? She didn’t want to waste the last of her evening off in a bad mood because she had a fight with Vegeta.

“Hmmmn,” he grunted as he watched her slice several pieces of cheese.

As the silence began to drag on, she began to feel uncomfortable as he stood there watching her. She assumed he wanted something and just wished he would just come out and say whatever it was he had on his mind. She didn’t have the energy to play his cryptic mind games today.

“Do you need something?” she asked him finally as she went to put the cheese away back into the fridge.

“You wanted to discuss the boy,” he said pointedly as though she should have known that was the reason he had sought her out.

“Oh, so you want to act like being a family is something that’s important to you now,” she rolled her eyes. “Alright. I’m just making a snack. Do you want anything?”

He ignored her sarcasm. “No,”

“Okay, let’s go then,” she said, grabbing two glasses and taking her plate upstairs.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“Upstairs,” she answered, not stopping and heading up the stairs to her bedroom.

Vegeta paused a moment before following her. He wanted to speak with her about Trunks, not have this be some casual social thing but followed her anyway. He would stay long enough to say his piece and then leave.

Bulma walked into her bedroom and into her bonus room. She set her snack down on the table, turned on the TV and went to her mini-fridge to grab a bottle of wine. She didn’t ask Vegeta of he wanted a glass, she just poured him one and handed it to him as she passed him and went to sit down.

He frowned at her as she handed him a glass of wine. He took it and looked at it a moment. Great. Now he _had_ to stay here for a while. Well, at least long enough to tell her what he came to tell her and finish his wine.

He grudgingly went over to her couch and sat on the opposite end of from her. It took him a moment to realize the last time he had sat in that very spot on the couch that she had straddled his lap while watching a movie and had ridden him.

Vegeta dismissed the thought. While appealing, that was not why he was here and he had no intention of ever going there with her again. While he had enjoyed his time with her, the outcome from the aftermath had not been worth it.

“So,” she said, taking him out of his thoughts which for once he was grateful she was speaking with him. “How was your day?”

He knew that she was annoyed he hadn’t joined her and Trunks today but he could not detect any malice in her tone so he answered her politely. “It was fine. How was your day with the boy?”

“It was good!” she nodded with a smile. “I do notice a difference in him. He’s a lot more... well behaved in a public setting.”

“Hmmmn,” he nodded.

“He sure likes spending time with you,” she told him as she turned the TV on and began browsing through all the programs she had recorded and let accumulate. Being that Vegeta was with her, she chose something with plenty of sex and violence. “He pretty much talks about you nonstop, you know.”

Vegeta nodded again, unsure of what to say. “I am not sure what all the fuss is about. I see him in the mornings and we meditate before breakfast and sometimes I see him in the afternoons if your mother goes out to run errands.”

“You’re his father,” she said. “He looks up to you. It’s not a big deal to you, I guess, but it is to him. I know this is foreign to you and you aren’t comfortable in this role, but I think you’re doing really good, Vegeta. I’m glad you’re still here.”

“I want to train him,” he said, not wanting to skirt around the subject. For some reason he felt very uncomfortable with her commending him.

Bulma was quiet a moment as she thought about it. She wasn’t opposed to it but she wasn’t sure how keen on it she was either, knowing how intense and borderline obsessive Vegeta could get when it came to his own training. She thought it was great that he wanted to spend more time with Trunks but she didn’t want him possibly pushing Trunks too hard while he was still just little. He would be four in a few months.

“You can train with Trunks, sure,” she said slowly, nodding in agreement. “Just don’t forget that he’s only a little boy. He can't be expected to keep up with you.”

Vegeta was almost shocked she had agreed so easily. He had almost certainly expected a heated argument and that he would find himself packing his few belongings and preparing the ship to finally leave this forsaken mud ball for good.

“By the time I was his age, I was already accompanying my father on purging missions,” he said. “He is more than ready to begin.”

“Alright, I don’t have a problem with you training him but he’s not going to be going on purging missions so don’t be too hard on him is all I ask,” she said. “I realize that you were raised differently and I respect that but things are different here. You can’t train so hard with him that he’s got broken bones and is covered in bruises every day.”

“He is half Saiyan,” he snorted. “I will not expect more from him than what is realistic but you need to remember that he is a lot stronger than your average human child.”

“No, I do understand that, Vegeta, that’s not my concern,” she said offering him her plate of crackers and cheese to share with her. “My concern is if someone sees him at the park covered in bruises or a broken arm one too many times, it’s not going to look good. Trunks will be starting pre-school next year and if he goes to school with new bruises constantly the teacher is going to ask him about it and I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to say ‘My dad and I were training or fighting,’ and social services will be down here so fast it will make your head spin. They’ll take him, Vegeta.”

“I would like to see _anyone_ try to take my son from me,” he snorted and Bulma had to resist smiling at his comment. It warmed her heart to know that he actually cared about their son. “I understand your concern however and I will take that into consideration.”

“As long as you’re careful and not too hard on him, I’m alright with it,” she clarified. Truthfully, a part of her wanted to say no. She was afraid of Trunks getting hurt but she also reminded herself that Gohan was about this age and he had lived an entire year in the wilderness training under Piccolo. How much worse could training with Vegeta be? Most of all, her decision to allowing it was the progress she had seen in Vegeta. Trunks had been so good for him. It made her so happy that he seemed to be adjusting to life here again. He had been so lost after the Cell games that she had been worried that he might never recover from what had happened. If working with Trunks was what gave him a purpose in life again, she couldn’t be so selfish as to not let him. Besides, it would more than likely break Trunks’ heart if Vegeta quit spending time with him.

“Noted,” Vegeta replied, taking a sip of his wine, both surprised and relieved that this conversation had gone over so smoothly with her.

“So are you going to start training again as well?” she asked cautiously, not wanting to set him off but he seemed to be in a good mood and she wanted to visit with him and maybe try to understand what it was he had been going through.

Vegeta shrugged in response.

“Hmm, now I see where Trunks gets that from,” she teased, mimicking his shrug. “Well I think you should,”

“Why?” he asked.

“You love it,” she replied simply. “It’s your passion. I know we weren’t on the best of terms after the androids and Cell, but it still made me sad that you quit all of that.”

Vegeta was quiet for a long moment, unsure of how to respond to her. It was something that he was not comfortable discussing. The period after the Cell games was the darkest period of his life. Even he didn’t fully understand what he had been feeling or going through at that time and there were days he was still consumed with depression and the only reason he got up in the morning was for Trunks. As much as he tried to tell himself that the boy meant nothing to him, he knew it was a lie and that he was slowly beginning to grow fond of him.

“For all of the training and hard work I put in during those three years I was surpassed by nearly everyone,” he answered. “It was all for nothing.”

“No it wasn’t,” she said, reaching for the remote and turning the volume down on the TV.

“It was,” he insisted. “Things would have been better off if I had not even bothered. I should have not returned here when I could not find Kakarott in space.”

Bulma blinked and looked into her wine glass as though it would tell her the right thing to say to him. She hadn’t expected him to reply with anything that would actually give her some insight into what had actually been going on in his head at that time. Now that he had, she knew she had to tread very carefully and not accidentally say anything that may be the wrong thing. She knew she couldn’t possibly relate to him, but she would try.

“I don’t agree,” she said finally. “I’m glad you came back.”

He snorted in response and she worried she had said the wrong thing. Sure things between then had been strained since there affair had ended but if he hadn’t come back, she wouldn’t have had Trunks and while becoming a mother hadn’t been very high on her list of things she had wanted to accomplish in life, she couldn’t imagine her life without Trunks and wouldn’t change a single thing if she could. 

“I know that you didn’t want to become a parent,” she started cautiously again, trying to be careful of what she said and how she said it. “But if you hadn’t come back, I wouldn’t have Trunks. That may not be a plus from your point of view, but it is to me. I love that little boy so much that I cannot imagine a life without him in it. Whatever we have between us, good or bad or even if you one day decide to leave here for good and I never see you again, I will always be thankful to you that I have him.”

Vegeta wasn't sure how to respond to her comment; that line of thinking had not even occurred to him and he agreed with her somewhat that a universe without Trunks in it felt strange to him.

“You might feel like your efforts with your training were wasted but you shouldn’t feel that way,” she continued, steering the subject away from her and Trunks. She could tell he wasn’t comfortable at all with her honesty with regards to the origin of Trunks. She didn’t care though, she wanted him to know that.

“That is because you do not know what it is like to work for everything you ever wanted, believing that it would be your life’s greatest accomplishment only to be surpassed by a mere child and two _machines_ ,” he said bitterly. “And not just _any_ child, the child of my greatest rival.”

Bulma nodded slowly as she listened to him. She wasn’t sure what to say to him so she reached for her wine bottle and topped up his glass, which she was happy he did not object to.

“When I became a Super Saiyan, I believed myself to have surpassed Kakarott by that point. It was my every intention that I would destroy those androids and then I would put that third class clown in his place and take back some of my lost honour. He owed me that,” he said bitterly. “He _still_ owes me that.”

“Alright but he’s gone now,” she said gently. “He chose-”

“ _Noble_ Kakarott,” he spat in distaste. “Sacrificing himself for the good of the planet and choosing to remain in the other dimension instead of returning to settle the score with me. He stole my honour by killing the one person who destroyed my life! Frieza’s life was not his to take.”

Bulma once again stared into her wine, realizing that this conversation had quickly gone into a direction that needed to be handled very delicately. She knew Vegeta had this need to be better than Goku but she didn’t realize it was a more deep-seated issue than simply a drive to be better than him. This was much more complicated than that. He felt like he had been robbed of something and still needed to settle the score and he had been denied that opportunity because of Goku’s decision to not be revived.

She loved her childhood friend dearly and it would have devastated her if Vegeta killed Goku or went out of his way to hurt him. Because he had lived here for so long before the androids showed up and he’d never pursued Goku she assumed that all his talk about defeating him had been just that. Talk. That he didn’t hold any real animosity towards the other Saiyan; or if he did, it had slowly resolved itself over the years. Here she was getting a completely opposite picture than what she thought and she felt bad for him.

She didn’t agree with his need to destroy Goku but she could understand his bitterness to a point and she figured that part of his loss in his desire to train had to do with him missing Goku; she knew he would never admit to that, but she suspected that was part of it. Goku had been the last remaining Saiyan other than himself. That meant that now he was truly all alone and that alone was heart breaking to her. Say what he wanted about Goku, his presence here had been what had motivated Vegeta. Now he didn’t have that anymore. It was all beginning to make sense to her what it was that had left him so depressed now and she was ashamed of herself and her conduct after it all had happened. She had been so unkind and insensitive.

“I’m sorry you feel he robbed you of something you felt was reserved for you,” she finally said, trying to think of something up building or a bright side to everything. “Although, technically it wasn’t Goku who killed Frieza from what I remember. He survived and then came back here to seek revenge. It was the older version of Trunks that killed him.

“Now I’m sorry I can’t entirely relate to what you are going through, but since Future Trunks was still technically raised by _me_ , I’m certain he would have known from stories she told him about what a horrible person Frieza was. He would have known what it meant to you to have him destroyed for once and for all. He came here and he did that. With relative ease too if I remember right. You should be proud of that. No, it wasn’t you personally who finished him, but it was _your_ son. Doesn’t matter what timeline he came from. It was _your_ son who killed the person who destroyed your life. _Your_ flesh and blood that carried that out. _That_ to me, is pretty cool and nothing for you to feel shame about. It was still _your_ line that set things right. Or at least as right as it’s ever going to be.”

 _As right as it’s ever going to be,_ he repeated mentally. Here he had been in the worst place mentally in his life and she had found a way to over simplify it. He wasn’t sure if he was annoyed or impressed that she had just given him a different angle to consider.

“What else is bothering you?” she asked boldly, knowing there was more to it than just that that had kept him locked in this deep pit of despair for the last few years.

Vegeta was quiet for a long time, drinking his wine while he debated on whether or not to open up to her further. This wasn’t something he did. Ever. Except talking about what had been plaguing him for some reason was already made him feel like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders and it surprised him. Bulma was the last person he thought he would ever confide in. He decided that maybe it was alright to talk to her. So far she had not laughed at his misery or made him feel more ashamed than he already did. She’d done the opposite actually.

“Not only had Kakarott surpassed me but his son became a Super Saiyan and was at a level beyond me. How could a child accomplish such a thing that I worked my entire life to achieve! I then discovered that the Namek had at some point surpassed me as well. Tell me, how would that make you feel? To be out bested and left behind by your enemy, his child and his child’s mentor?”

Bulma shrugged. “Not good, I would imagine. I could see how that could be discouraging but don’t you think you’re being a bit too hard on yourself?”

“No,” he replied. “Not only was I outclassed in battle by everyone around me, I was nothing more than a liability on the battlefield. In my arrogance and failure to accept my own limitations and in my need to prove to everyone that I was superior, I put everyone in jeopardy. I allowed Cell to acquire his perfect form. In doing that, our son was murdered.”

Bulma had only gotten bits and pieces of what had gone down during the fight with the androids and the Cell games. It had been from the point of view of Yamcha mostly, who was not sympathetic to Vegeta in the least. She had gotten a few of the spaces coloured in by Krillin and Yamcha but they didn’t usually want to discuss Vegeta at length. “Vegeta you can’t blame yourself for Cell murdering Trunks,” she said sympathetically. “Don’t do that to yourself. He’s fine. He was wished back by the dragon balls and he was stronger than ever when he went back to his own timeline. It’s not your fault Cell killed him.”

“He would have never had the opportunity if I had just ended him when he was in his imperfect state,” Vegeta said blandly.

“Alright but you still couldn’t predict that he would kill Trunks like that,” she insisted. “He could have killed anyone. It was a battle. Everyone who was out there knew there was a possibility that they could be killed and not brought back even. Yamcha and Krillin won’t be able to be wished back if they die again, yet they were still out there. You won’t be able to be wished back if you die.”

Vegeta snorted at her and took a long sip of his wine. “What a shame,”

“It would be,” she said firmly. “Trunks would be devastated.”

He nodded and noted that for some reason it bothered him that if he died she apparently wouldn’t give a shit. Not that he blamed her. He had been nothing short of miserable to her since their affair. He had nearly let her and his son die because he had been drunk on power and ego, convincing himself that no one in this universe mattered to him. In the short time he had spent with Trunks, he had realized that wasn’t true. He did care.

“I’d be pretty upset too,” she added, almost as if she was able to read his mind.

“Would you, now?” he asked sarcastically.

“Yes, Vegeta, I would,” she answered honestly. “Just like I can’t imagine a life without Trunks, I can’t imagine my life without you in it.”

The mood in the room between them immediately went from casual to awkward and uncomfortable and Bulma immediately wished she hadn’t said that to him. _What were you thinking,_ she chastised herself. “Well, who else would piss me off on a consistent basis, huh? It would be pretty boring around here without you,” she said quickly, hoping to have not ruined things.

“Still as stupid as ever, I see,” he snorted.

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re here and that you’ve been spending time with Trunks,” she said, ignoring his baiting. “So I wanted to talk to you about that so we can do this without it being a fight and an argument.”

Vegeta nodded in agreement. “What do you have in mind?”

“Nothing really,” she shrugged. “Just we need to communicate and be honest with each other about what we both want from each other where he’s concerned. I think it crucial that we be open about it and support each other’s choices and decisions. If there’s issues between us, I don’t want him to know about it. I will never bad mouth you to him and I’d appreciate the same curtesy,”

“I know you won’t,” he growled. “That boy from the future had grandiose thoughts and expectations in his head with regards to me, no doubt thanks to whatever foolish things you told him.”

“Well excuse me, but I think it’s wrong for a boy to grow up not knowing his father. If anything were to happen to you, I’d do the same thing. What did you think she would say about you? ‘ _Oh_ _yes, Trunks your father was a wonderful man. We knocked boots for two days straight and then he left me when he had his fill and didn’t care to stick around once he found out I was pregnant with you,’”_ she said snarkily. “Of course not! If something happens to you I’d do the same thing. I wouldn’t tell him about the hurtful, spiteful things that went on between us or that you never attempted to save us when we were in danger-”

“Or that _you_ placed yourself and our son in danger despite my warning that you stay behind,” he reminded her coolly. 

“Right,” she sighed. “I won’t be telling him _any_ of _those_ stories.”

“Fair enough,” he agreed. He hadn’t been interested in having a heart to heart with the future version of his son. He couldn’t see him being all that keen on it now either.

They were both quiet for a while, having slipped into a comfortable silence as they watched the show Bulma had on the TV and sipped their wine.

As the credits came on at the end of the episode, Bulma leaned to refill her glass. “Would you like more?” she asked, noticing his glass was nearly empty.

He debated a moment. He should leave. He had come to say what he had wanted to say. Actually, he’d said a lot more than that, much to his embarrassment at his own candidness, but it was bothering him less and less as the moments passed. She hadn’t mocked him or made him feel any worse. If anything, she had attempted to relate to his feelings of shame and doubts of self-worth and comforted him and he found that he did feel a little bit better after talking with her. He wondered why she would even try to comfort him after everything that had passed between them. It was strange to him.

“Come on,” she coaxed, wiggling the bottle a little. “We may as well finish it.”

Vegeta relented and reached for his glass so she could refill it.

Bulma smiled in satisfaction as she emptied the bottle into his glass and selected the next episode of her show to start.

They sat there as they watched the show’s next episode begin with the main character panicking because a heist he was on had gone horribly wrong. He was having a panic attack remembering the last time he was in prison while he was on his cell phone with a hacker friend of his to disengage the locked doors and shut the alarm off _and_ his ex-lover was on the other line as well.

“I thought he was a _good guy_ now or something,” Vegeta commented blandly.

“He is,” Bulma nodded. “He’s just still doing off stuff on the side.”

“Hmmmn,” he grunted.

They didn’t speak again for a little while. “I can start the whole show from the beginning if you want, I’m only like four or five episodes in.”

Vegeta shrugged. He had seen bits and pieces of this show in passing on the odd time she watched it in the family room. It was either featuring some brutal fight or an explicit sex scene so he wasn’t sure what the main point of the program was but it was appealing to him. The main character wasn’t an overdone, fake looking player. To Vegeta, he looked like a believable protagonist with a sordid past.

Bulma grabbed the remote and stopped the show to put it on the first episode. “There, then you’ll be all caught up and will know what’s going on.”

Vegeta nodded and glanced at her. He did not ask her to do that, nor did he really care that much but he appreciated the gesture and realized that she was putting the effort to keep him content and so decided he could put himself out there and stay since she obviously wanted him to.

They watched the first four episodes together in silence mostly. It turned out that Vegeta really liked this show.

“So what are you going to teach Trunks first?” she asked as she shut the tv off when the episode was finished.

Vegeta thought for a moment. He had no idea what he wanted to teach the boy first. “I’m not sure,”

“Well, what was the first thing your father taught you?” she asked, grabbing the blanket off the back of the couch and curling up in it with her knees up, facing him.

“He taught me to fly,” he replied after a moment’s thought. He hadn’t thought about training with his father in his youth in years. Not to mention he would have assumed that Bulma would not have found the training he and his father had done when he was a child even remotely acceptable.

“Hmmm,” she thought to herself. “You think that’s a good idea? I mean he’s already very independent and I have a hard time catching him when he doesn’t want to do something. What will I do if he just flies off because he know I can’t fly?”

“I will teach him that he is not to do that,” he said, agreeing with her concern.

“Alight and when he decides to still do it?” she asked. “How are you going to enforce that? It’s not like he’s a bird and we can clip his wings.”

Vegeta thought for a moment. “If he still does it, come and get me and I will find him and bring him back and we will deal with him if and when it happens.”

“Fair enough,” she nodded.

They hung out for a while longer, discussing Trunks in a calm, mature manner. Bulma was surprised to learn that they agreed on quite a lot of things and she was confident that it seemed like they could possibly successfully do this together with hopefully minimal conflict.

She didn’t realize how late it was when she yawned and checked her phone. It was past one o’clock in the morning. “I’ve gotta get to bed,” she said to him. “Ugh, I so don’t feel like going to work tomorrow.”

Vegeta smirked at her as he got up to leave.

“Hey,” she called out to him. “I’m glad we did this,”

“Hmmn,” he nodded. Truthfully, he hadn’t minded spending time with her this evening.

“Feel free to drop by anytime,” she said to him. “I’m not like I have a life anymore or places to be. I’m just here most of the time trying to catch up on lost sleep.”

“You work too much,” he said.

“I know, but eventually I’ll be the one running everything and that means I have to know how to understand how every part of the company works and all the processes,” she sighed.

“Same as me had my planet not been destroyed,” he agreed. “I was not old enough to take part in anything other than the odd purging mission before my father handed me over to Frieza.”

“So it wasn’t all easy life of luxury growing up as a prince before the shit hit the fan?” she asked.

“No,” he replied. “I was required to be up early to train with my father each and every morning. We would train or meditate for a few hours before breakfast. Then I was made to sit and learn with a tutor. I was taught not only the history of our race, but the histories of the races we had alliances with. I was taught to speak many of the different languages that are used in the galaxy and sometimes was allowed to accompany my father during meetings with other planetary officials.”

“Wow,” she murmured. She always could tell that Vegeta was intelligent and well read, but she had grossly underestimated the amount of instruction and education he had been given. She had merely assumed that he had learned everything he’d needed to learn from Frieza.

“I am more than a mindless soldier,” he said to her.

“Oh, I know that,” she agreed. “I’ve always known that.”

Satisfied, he nodded and headed out of her room. “I will start with the boy tomorrow,”

“Have fun with him,” she said with a yawn. “Don’t take things too seriously though. He’s just a little boy.”

Vegeta rolled his eyes at her as he left, closing her door behind him.

Bulma stood in her bedroom looking at her door a moment before smiling to herself. Tonight had been a great evening; she almost couldn’t believe it! She hoped this was a sign of things getting better and easier between them.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Chapter 5** _

The following few weeks had gone well for everyone. Vegeta had begun training Trunks the very next day as he said he would and they trained every morning, early before breakfast and for a little while in the afternoon. Vegeta was very strict with Trunks. Training was to be taken seriously and he had to be on time for their training. If he wasn't, Vegeta sent him back into the house and he would have to wait until the afternoon. Trunks was late twice and never again. He valued the training and instruction from his father. Vegta's other rule was that Trunks not discuss the nature of their training with anyone except for Bulma if she asked. To anyone else, Vegeta instructed Trunks that they were not to know.

In the mornings they would start with meditation and katas. Trunks followed and did everything to mirror and imitate his father as best as possible. Vegeta thought the katas were an excellent place to start. They were good for Trunks balance, taught him proper posture and form and required concentration.

In the afternoons Vegeta started on teaching Trunks to fly. Not surprisingly, he had caught onto that fairly quickly and within a few weeks they were flying over short distances together, slowly building up endurance.

The months seemed to fly by and soon Trunks' fourth birthday came and went. Vegeta had even shown up for a little while, much to Bulma's happiness.

She had invited him, assuming he would not show up at all; after all, he never attended any of the Capsule Corporation events or anything else she ever invited him to that involved more than just her and her parents being in attendance. So she was thrilled he had shown up and actually stayed for a bit.

It hadn't been a huge party, but it had been enough kids that Trunks had had a great time. Goten and Chi-Chi had even gotten Trunks a custom made gi identical to the one Goku always wore, only it was a dark teal green instead of orange. Trunks loved it, but Vegeta wasn't crazy about the idea of his son running around in a "clown suit". Bulma thought the gesture was sweet and thought it was hilarious that he absolutely loved it so much he wouldn't wear anything else for an entire week despite his father's hinting at him to change into something else.

It was with those optimistic thoughts in mind that Bulma decided she wanted to invite Vegeta to the upcoming Capsule Corporation party this coming weekend. She wasn't sure if he would come or not, but she wanted to ask him anyway.

"I know you don't like formal functions or anything but we're having our quarterly staff party this weekend," she said to him on one of their evenings spent watching tv together. It was slowly becoming a regular occurrence that Bulma began to look forward to. Sometimes they would discuss Trunks and his training and sometimes, depending on how tired Bulma was, they would just sit together in companionable silence and watch whichever program they chose. All week she had been wanting to ask him to come and so tonight she decided to bite the bullet and go for it. "It would be kind of cool if you came. There's going to be tons of food and-"

"You want me to come to supervise the boy during the festivities," he cut her off in a dry tone.

"No, actually," she replied. "There's going to be a kid's area and we have volunteers from within the company to watch the kids. There's going to be games and things there to keep them occupied so the parents can let loose and have some fun."

"Then why are you asking me to come?" he asked.

"I don't know, I thought it would be nice if you came. It's not a big deal," she shrugged, hoping to come off as though she didn't care if he came or not. In actuality though, she really hoped that he did. They were slowly falling into a normal routine and she wanted to include him in other aspects of her life that didn't only involve Trunks. She wanted him to feel like he was a part of her life and she wanted him in _both_ hers and Trunks' life equally. "Just something to do. You don't have to come, I just thought I'd let you know so if you were interested, you know you're more than welcome to come. Or you can just enjoy the peace and quiet since the main house will be off limits to guests. I'm sure mom will leave a ton of food for you and you can avoid the whole thing if you want."

"Hmmmn," he grunted, preferring the second option. A night with the house completely to himself sounded very appealing.

"Alright," she nodded awkwardly, not saying anything else on the matter so as to not make him feel uncomfortable. She was learning that the best approach with Vegeta seemed to be to let him come around on his own. Make a suggestion a few days in advance and not mention it again. Maybe he would do it, maybe he wouldn't but at least she felt good in letting him know about these things so that he knew he was included, even if he didn't want to be. It was his choice to make but at least he could make the choice.

He had made so much progress in such a short time. He was still reclusive, but at least he didn't keep himself confined to his bedroom only coming out once a week to eat. If this was as good as it was going to get, she'd take it. He was present in Trunks' life and they could be civil to each other and enjoy each other's company as friends. That alone was more than she would have ever hoped or expected from him. While she was dying for something more to happen between them, she also didn't want to ruin anything by putting any pressure on him.

She knew that if he was going to decide to want something more than what was the current situation, she needed to be patient and make him think that it was his idea. _I'm not going anywhere,_ she sighed to herself. She would wait for him. He was worth it.

-0-0-0-

The day of the Capsule Corporation party came. Bulma made sure she had the most gorgeous cocktail dress. It was dark, royal blue and looked strapless with a sweetheart neckline, but had a chiffon sheer piece of fabric that started under her bust line and fastened around her neck, covering her cleavage but leaving her shoulders exposed. Beneath her bust where the chiffon started was a delicate rhinestone bow pin and the dress was tight around her waist before flowing out in a slight A line at her hips. There were two layers of the skirt portion, making it look delicate and light. It fell to just above her knee. It was a modest dress but it looked simply gorgeous on her. She paired it off with a pair of silver rhinestone stiletto heels, showing off her long, shapely legs.

Bulma was excited about this party. She hadn't had a relaxing weekend where she could let loose in so long she couldn't even remember when she had the last time. They had arranged the party the same weekend as the long weekend and closed down early on Friday afternoon. They were closed Saturday for everyone to prepare and come early and Sunday was always closed anyway but Monday was closed too for the long weekend so there was plenty of time for everyone to recover if they indulged a little too much, as was usually the case at these huge Capsule Corporation parties. They all worked hard, which was why they threw at least four big bashes a year for their employees with unlimited food and alcohol for everyone. It was always a great time.

Bulma was looking forward to it and she was very curious to see if Vegeta would at least make an appearance. She hoped he did. She would never admit it, but she had taken great pains to make sure she looked nothing short of stunning just for him and even made sure to have some of his most favourite meals available at the buffet table.

It was eleven o'clock in the morning and the party was set to start at noon. Bulma was ready nice and early so that she could help her mother with any last minute preparations.

She closed her bedroom door and went to check on Trunks and make sure he was ready. She knocked on his door. "Trunks, are you ready?"

"I'm not going," he replied on the other side of the door.

Bulma frowned and opened up his bedroom door where he was sitting on his bed playing video games and still in his pyjamas. "What do you mean you aren't going?" she asked him. "There's going to be tons of kids your own age to play with. You had fun last time, and some of them even came to your birthday party."

"Ya but I don't want to," he shrugged.

"Why not?"

Trunks shrugged again in response.

"Uhm, excuse me," she snipped at him, standing in front of his tv. "This," she said, mimicking his shrug, "Is not an answer. Now get dressed, I promised your grandmother we would help her finish up."

"But I don't want to," he whined.

"Tough luck, pal. Guess what? There's lots of times we have to do things we don't want to do. That's life, get used to it."

"But dad isn't going and you don't make him do things when he doesn't want to do them." he argued.

_Ahh, so that's what this is about,_ she thought to herself. "Your father is a grown man and can decide things for himself. You, on the other hand aren't. So until then, you do exactly as I say."

"Dad doesn't treat me like a little kid," he said.

Bulma groaned out loud. It was true, Vegeta didn't treat Trunks like a little boy, he treated him as an equal. It was good because Trunks was very well spoken and quite mature for his age, but sometimes it concerned her that it was forcing him to grow up quicker than he needed to.

"Besides, I don't feel like hanging around a bunch of kids," he whined.

"I have news for you, you _are_ a kid,"

"Yea but I'd rather stay here and maybe do something with dad in a bit,"

_That_ _was_ _nice_ , she thought to herself, glad that he wanted to spend time with his father but she would be damned if she would allow her son to mimic his father's anti-social personality! "Well, you can spend time with your father tomorrow and every day this week. Now get dressed!" she said, shutting his tv off.

"Hey! I was playing that!" he shouted in outrage.

"And now you aren't," she said. "Get dressed! You can hook it up and play all your games with the other kids."

"I don't want to!"

"Too bad!"

"What the hell is going on in here?" Vegeta bellowed. He was still in his pyjama pants and Bulma was shocked he had still been sleeping. For the last few months he had been getting up early to meditate.

"Mom is trying to make me go to this stupid thing," Trunks whined.

"It isn't stupid!"

"Enough!" Vegeta growled. He looked at her briefly, noting to himself how nice she looked before shooting his son a dirty look for disrupting his sleep. "Woman, you go and help your mother, I will deal with the boy,"

"He's going, Vegeta," she said firmly. "I don't care what you decide to do, but he's going so don't-"

"I will handle it," he cut her off, remembering their discussion from a while back about being consistent with the boy. In all honesty he could care less if Trunks wanted to stay or not but he knew these gatherings were important to Bulma for whatever reason. She and her parents always made a point of inviting him and he never went but he knew the Briefs family put a lot of effort and energy into these things. He himself had no intention of going today either but if the woman wanted the boy to go, he would make him go. Besides, he was looking forward to a nice, peaceful day on his own with no disruptions. That was why he was still in bed. He didn't know what he was going to do today but that was alright. He would make it up as he went along. So long as he was left alone for most of the day, he would be happy.

Bulma looked at Vegeta in surprise, not expecting help or support in this matter. Vegeta never came to any of the functions so why would he take her side in this? She was going to point that out but then decided to leave it be and give him a chance. So far things between them in the co-parenting department had been going really well. Maybe he would surprise her and take her side on this. She nodded and left Trunks' bedroom and went to go find her mother.

"Can I just stay here and spend the day with you, dad?" Trunks asked after Bulma left.

"No, you will attend this function and that is final," he shook his head.

"But why?" he whined.

"Do not whine," he said sharply to him. "You are going because it is important to your mother that you be there,"

"But you're not going," Trunks pointed out.

Vegeta sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in aggravation. Sometimes this whole parenting thing was more trouble than it was worth and he didn't understand why he stuck around to even bother with it. "No, I am not, but that does not excuse you from going."

"Why not?"

"Because it doesn't!" he snipped, knowing full well that wasn't a good enough reason; or it was not a reason Trunks could understand. "If you go, I will take you to the park tomorrow,"

"Tomorrow is Sunday, I _always_ go to the park on Sundays with mom anyway," Trunks sighed in a bored tone, indicating that the incentive wasn't quite good enough.

"Alright, I will make a compromise with you. I will go to this damned thing if you do. You must behave yourself. If you do, I will take you to the park every afternoon this week," he growled begrudgingly, regretting the offer the moment it came out of his mouth.

"Really? You will?" Trunks lit up.

"Hmmn," he nodded, already regretting his offer. What was he doing making propositions and negotiations with a four-year-old? Was this what his life had become, he wondered glumly.

"Okay! I'll go!" Trunks said, jumping off his bed and racing to his dresser to get dressed.

Vegeta slinked off, back to his bedroom and shut the door. He growled as he made his way to his ensuite bathroom to shower. At least there would be plenty of food there, he reasoned to himself. Now that he was up, he was feeling hungry. He would make sure Trunks went, would have a meal and then leave. He had promised Trunks that he would go, not that he would stay.

-0-0-0-

Bulma was already greeting guests who had decided to arrive early. Fortunately her mother, being the super multi tasker she was, had everything all ready to go and hadn't needed any help.

She was going to check on the kids place to make sure Trunks had made it but was caught up talking with one of the board members for the last few minutes.

Bulma had managed to give Chi-Chi a quick call before people had started showing up and had asked if she would bring Goten over to play with Trunks for the day. Then at least he would have someone if he didn't want to hang out with the other kids. The other woman had agreed, much to Bulma's relief. She had offered to let Goten spend the night with Trunks and then bring him back sometime tomorrow afternoon, depending on the severity of her hang over.

She excused herself finally when someone with a kid showed up, and made a point of insisting on showing them to the kids area just so she could check and see if Trunks was there yet. If he wasn't, she was going to be giving both him and his father an earful.

They walked into the kids area and she was relieved to see Trunks playing video games already with the only other kid there.

"Everything okay in here, sweetie?" she asked.

"Ya," Trunks replied, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"Remember to let everyone else have a turn on your game,"

"I will,"

"That's a good boy, Trunks," Bulma smiled at him. "Goten is on his way over too, by the way, and he's going to spend the night."

"Alright!" Trunks jumped, still not taking his eyes off the screen.

By this time, the other little boy was at the tv watching Trunks and the other boy play the game.

"I think they're going to be just fine," the girl who was supervising the kids said to her with a smile.

"You're right, Thank you for watching them," Bulma agreed, heading back to where everyone was arriving.

-0-0-0-

After taking his time in the shower, Vegeta went to his closet to find something to wear since he assumed that training shorts and flight suit spandex would be an unacceptable choice of attire for this thing and he wanted to be as unnoticed as possible.

He scanned through the section of clothing that Mrs. Briefs had bought for him when he had first arrived on this planet. None of it appealed to him and none of it looked comfortable. He found a pair of dark navy blue denim jeans and tossed them on his bed behind him before going through the shirts. He didn't mind the loose dress shirts, so long as they weren't pink or didn't have floral patterns all over them, which was what seemed to dominate his closet, much to his irritation. He settled on a black, long sleeved, fitted dress shirt.

Vegeta quickly dressed and gave himself a once over in the mirror. He wasn't sure if he looked acceptable for this function or not but then decided he didn't care. As he looked at himself, he wondered if he should leave the dress shirt tucked in or leave it out? The fit of the shirt clung to him nicely, flattering his exceptional physique so he didn't think it looked bad if he left it out, though he was still unsure. Bulma was dressed quite formal so he wasn't sure if this was suitable.

Once again, he reminded himself that he did not care and exited his room in a huff. So much for peace and quiet and solitude for the day. He passed Trunks' room and was satisfied to notice that the boy was gone and it looked like he had taken his game console with him, based on the mess of cords all over the floor. He shook his head. The boy had obviously gotten his lack of organizational skills from his mother.

He made his way over to the other side of the compound and snuck in through one of the rear entrances, wanting to avoid being seen or worse, be forced to carry on mundane conversation with people he did not know or care about.

-0-0-0-

"There you are," she heard from behind her.

"Oh, hey," she replied as she turned around, her smile faltering somewhat when she knew who it was. She knew she was being silly in her hopes that Vegeta just _might_ show up but she found herself scanning the room constantly in hopes of seeing him lurking in a corner on his own, away from everyone else. She'd known who was behind her wasn't Vegeta as soon as she'd heard his voice, but it was as though the wishful thinking in her heart was so single minded that she'd still hoped it was him when she turned around and so she was still slightly disappointed. "You made it."

"Oh course I did! I wouldn't miss it for the world!" Derek said. "You want a drink?" he asked her.

"Sure, actually. I haven't had one yet," she nodded. "I'll come with you."

Bulma followed him to the minibar where the drinks were being served and asked for a glass of white wine for herself. Derek asked for a beer.

"You look amazing, by the way," he said to her once they had their drinks in hand and had migrated to a less crowded area of the room.

"Thank you," smiled, still scanning the room for Vegeta.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd go out on a limb and say you put in the extra effort for someone," he teased.

Bulma looked at him suddenly and felt her face go warm. Technically she had done herself up a bit more than necessary, but it was for Vegeta. Was it _that_ obvious? She had seen Vegeta earlier when she was arguing with Trunks. Had he thought she had gone and made herself up just for him and now decided to not show up because he thought she was pathetic?

"I was teasing you," Derek chuckled at the look of embarrassment on her face. "You don't have time for all that silly stuff I thought,"

"You're right, I don't." she agreed, catching herself. "Besides, I don't have anyone to dress up for,"

"Wow! That kind of hurts," he teased, putting his hand on his heart.

"I thought you said you didn't have feelings?" she jokingly reminded him, referring to a conversation they'd had about a week or so ago, when she turned him down for a date again and had mentioned that she didn't want to keep hurting his feelings by continually saying no and he had countered that it was impossible for her to hurt his feelings because he had none, which was why he did well in sales. She had laughed almost until she cried because it made her think of Vegeta. Now _there_ was someone who if he had any feelings, only had maybe one. Derek was a complete polar opposite to Vegeta, it was hilarious actually.

They were so different that she found herself actually considering giving the poor guy a chance and go out with him. Maybe he was the one? He didn't have a shady bad boy past from what she could tell. He wasn't a project like both Yamcha and Vegeta had been to her. If she wanted to get to know Derek better, all she had to do was reciprocate his interest. On the other hand, that made things almost too easy and Bulma liked a challenge. _Right and look where that got you. You're a 36 year old single mother._

Since she still wasn't sure what to do, she had fun teasing and flirting with him in the meantime. She liked being chased. It made her feel good that at least someone was interested in her.

"I have _one_ feeling. And you just hurt it," he said.

"Oh, so you have one."

"I do," he nodded.

"My apologies," she laughed. "I didn't realize you even had one."

"You are heartless, you know that?"

"I have a reputation to uphold," she shrugged. "Being heartless is the only way anyone takes me seriously."

"Nah.."

Bulma snorted at him and enjoyed her wine. Truthfully, she enjoyed his company and their banter. Sure there wasn't the same intensity behind it as when she and Vegeta used to engage in their witty games of verbal dialogue but she liked that she could joke and tease him with her sarcastic streak and he would come back with something equally as obnoxious usually.

Bulma and Derek spent their time visiting and mingling with fellow staff members and it didn't take long before everything was in full swing.

0-0-0

Vegeta had taken his time making it to the gathering and when he'd made it he left after a few minutes having reminded himself why he avoided these things like the plague. Having to hang out with a bunch of people he had no interest in knowing and answering stupid questions about who he was and why no one ever saw him around at the office compound. Who cared? Security at Capsule Corporation was paramount. They wouldn't let just any random person show up to an event like this so obviously he was entitled to be here; not that they could keep him out if he really wanted to be there, he thought with a smirk. He wasn't in the auditorium one minute and he had been swarmed by several women. All interested in wanting to know who he was. What was with these humans and feeling the need to talk to some random person they didn't know?

He didn't do that.

He wasn't even sure what to tell them when asked. He didn't feel like it was any of anyone's business who he was and what his relation to the Brief's family and Capsule Corporation was. He didn't know if the woman wanted people to know who he was and that he was her son's father. It wasn't something they'd ever discussed. He knew she was very open about it around the Z warriors; she'd never hid Trunks' paternity from any of them but those were her close friends. These people were all beneath her and her family; they worked for them so did that mean she kept her private life off limits to them? He did not know. If they were his subjects, he would have kept his personal life private and on a need to know basis. In which case he felt that none of these people needed to know or were entitled to know and so he kept his responses very vague.

Unfortunately, his aloof demeanour did nothing to discourage the gaggle of woman wanting to talk to him and find out who he was. After a few minutes of that nonsense, he excused himself and went to make sure Trunks was still where he was supposed to be.

He was there. Playing games with Kakarott's youngest brat and dressed in that god awful clown suit they'd gotten him for his birthday so they were dressed nearly identical.

"Hey dad!" Trunks greeted him, dropping his controller on the ground and running up to him. "Can we show everyone how we fly?" he asked in a loud whisper, trying to be discreet.

"No, boy," he said quietly. "We are not to discuss our training or demonstrate it to others. I have told you this,"

"Ya but Goten said his brother taught him to fly too," Trunks whispered to him hoarsely. "He doesn't believe me that you taught me to fly too or that you can fly like Gohan can."

Vegeta sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "That may be, but I told you that you are to never discuss our training with anyone. That includes Kakarott's… that includes Goten."

Trunks sighed in disappointment. "Alright,"

Vegeta then felt a little bad for snapping at him like that; he could understand his son's competitive nature and wanting to prove to the other boy that he was just as capable if not more so. "I tell you what, you boys keep it to yourself today and the next time he's over I will show you _both_ and he can train with us."

"Really?"

"Really. But _only_ if you both do not tell anyone else here about it," he negotiated. "It is no one's business."

"Okay!" Trunks said cheerfully, running a finger across his lips like he was zipping his mouth shut. "Mmm mmph mm," he mumbled before _unzipping_ his lips. "Mom says Goten is spending the night. Can he train with us tomorrow morning then?"

Vegeta sighed in annoyance. Now he _had_ to live up to that promise. When he'd said that, he had assumed it would be weeks or months even between now and the next time Goten came over and Trunks would forget all about it by then. "Yes, fine. Whatever," he growled quietly.

"Alright. It's our secret!" Trunks said and turned to skip back to the other kids.

Vegeta shook his head and turned to leave. He was going to go back to the main compound to get away from the noise and the crowd but he was hungry. And he knew that the food would have been served by now and maybe people would be too drunk by this point to even notice him slip in and out for a quick meal. So he headed back inside.

As predicted, a good number of the people in attendance were intoxicated and paid him no notice. Some were eating, almost all of them were drinking. Some were dancing and most just mingling randomly about the large hall.

Vegeta scanned the room, looking for Bulma but he couldn't see her. He could _sense_ her energy, but there were too many people there for him to be able to pick her out of the crowd.

He quietly circled the perimeter of the room. Ignoring everyone as he went, carefully looking through the crowd for the one person he actually didn't mind knowing that he was here. Which puzzled him.

He had made a point of making sure Trunks knew he had come, but that was because of the agreement they had made. He had made that arrangement with the boy, not his mother. However for some reason he wanted her to know that he had put forth the effort to be here.

He saw Bulma's parents and kept going. He didn't want the older woman to draw attention to him.

Finally he saw her.

She was visiting with a male and two other females. He hadn't taken a good look at her earlier, but he remembered that she'd looked simply stunning. He discreetly looked at her appreciatively from afar, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Thankfully no one else seemed to notice him. He preferred that.

He watched her as she conversed. She _did_ look exceptional today. He noticed that the male standing by her was hovering rather closely to her and he wondered if she as aware of it or not. If she was, she didn't seem to mind. He was included in the conversation and she was deferring to him as well and so he wondered if he was the reason she looked so nice for this event? Come to think of it, he'd been noticing her putting forth extra effort into her appearance for work in the last few weeks. Was this the reason, he wondered.

He internally shrugged, telling himself that he really didn't care. If she was interested in another, then it meant that things between them wouldn't become complicated again. He was content with things remaining exactly as they were between them.

He watched her carefully for a while and determined that she wasn't overly aware of the other male hovering. He was clearly interested in her but she was either ignoring it or was oblivious to it. Either way, he found it amusing to observe until he noticed her scanning the room for about the third time, unsuccessfully noticing him until now.

They locked eyes for a long moment and he could tell that she was genuinely surprised to see him there.

0-0-0

Bulma was having a decent time. Derek was hilarious as usual and she was visiting with some of her lab buddies she hadn't seen since she had started in the sales department. Still, she kept discreetly looking along the walls in hopes of seeing Vegeta there even though she would have bet half her fortune that he would not show up at all.

As she was looking again, not paying attention to the conversation around her, her eyes suddenly met with a pair of the blackest eyes she'd ever seen. _Oh my god,_ she thought to herself, blinking a few times and doing a double take. There was Vegeta, standing against the far back wall dressed in dark jeans and black fitted shirt with the first few top buttons undone, so you only got a hint that he was very well built beneath his clothes. Bulma always found him appealing but seeing him dressed in _normal_ clothes the way he was, she couldn't remember seeing him look sexier than he did right then.

She excused herself from her friends and made a beeline for him.

"Hey! You came!" she exclaimed, smiling at him, genuinely glad he was there.

"Hmmmn," he grunted, feeling very uncomfortable now because people were looking at them. "I had little choice,"

"Why? Did mum not leave you food to eat?" she asked. "I'm so sorry-"

"I negotiated with the boy that if he came, I would come," he deadpanned. Somehow admitting it out loud to her made him feel even more embarrassed than he already was by doing this.

"You what?" she snorted in amusement. "That's hilarious, Vegeta."

"Hmmmn," he grunted.

She had to refrain from giggling at him, as she could see that he wasn't nearly as amused as she was. "Well, I'm glad you came, no matter what the reason. Do you want me to grab you a drink? And there's plenty of food too."

"No drink," he said. "I will stay long enough for a meal however."

"Okay," she nodded. "I haven't eaten yet either so I'll go with you so you don't have to sit alone."

Truthfully, he would have rather she left him on his own so that he would not be noticed or bothered.

She went with him and they both loaded up their plates with everything they wanted; Vegeta, helping himself to two plates.

"You wanna get out of here?" she asked him.

He looked at her in surprise a moment. "Is that not poor etiquette on your part?"

Bulma waved a hand in dismissal and made a funny noise. "Who cares," she snorted. "My parents are still here and half the people here are already half cut so I doubt anyone will notice if I step out for a bit. Even if they do, so what?"

He smirked at her. He was certain that the guy who he had observed hanging around her earlier would notice her absence, if he hadn't already.

Bulma smiled and snagged a bottle of unopened red wine with a twist off lid instead of a cork and looped her arm through his and pulled him behind her, sneaking out of the crowded hall. Instead of going outside, she went up a staircase and they booked it up the stairs quickly until they made it to the roof.

Bulma opened the door and then after making sure there was no one else up there hanging out, she locked the door so no one else would come up.

"I could have flown us up here," he said to her.

"You have two loaded plates, how would you have possibly flown us both up here?"

Vegeta shrugged and walked over to around the middle of the roof and sat on the ground to start eating.

Bulma stood there a moment. She should have thought this through a little bit better. It wasn't exactly clean up there and she didn't want to get her dress dirty but she relented and put her plate on the ground and pulled her skirt up a bit so that she could just sit on her knees and not ruin her dress.

"So?" she started between mouthfuls. "What exactly was the deal you made with Trunks?"

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "That if he went without a fuss that I would go too since his objection to not going was only on the premise that I was not going."

"I keep telling you how much he looks up to you and you keep thinking it's no big deal," she shrugged. "You still didn't have to come though,"

"I told the boy I would so I did," he replied. "If he found out otherwise, then he would think that I am a liar and my word then means nothing to him. Which do you think is worse?"

"You're right," she agreed. "I never thought of it that way. Well thanks for backing me up on that and thanks for being here. I know how much you hate these things. It means a lot to me that you came, even if it was just to hold up your end of your bargain with Trunks and have some food. I'm glad you're here."

Vegeta didn't say anything for a moment and reached for the wine bottle sitting between them and opening it. "You did not bring any glasses,"

Bulma shrugged and took the wine bottle from him and took a swig from it and handed it back to him. "Who needs glasses?"

"Classy," he snorted at her but took his own sip from the bottle. "Not only did I talk myself into coming here but I condemned myself to having to go to the park every day this week _and_ train with both Trunks and Kakarott's brat tomorrow morning."

"You didn't!" she exclaimed with a giggle.

He simply frowned and nodded.

"That'll be fun," she commented. "Goten is hilarious. He reminds me of Goku; not just the way he looks but his mannerisms and everything. He's like a mini carbon copy."

"Which explains why he is so dense," Vegeta deadpanned. "They should have named him Young Plank."

"Awe come on, Vegeta, he's just a little kid,"

"Trunks was not nearly as dim witted as he was at that age or _ever_ ," Vegeta pointed out.

"True, but remember, I _am_ a genius," she pointed out haughtily. "Intelligence runs in my family so it only stands to reason that any child of _mine_ would be super smart."

Vegeta gave her a look that indicated that he was not impressed.

They both finished off their lunch while sharing the bottle of wine and enjoying light conversation about nothing in particular for quite a while.

"Well, I'd better be getting back," she announced. "Do you wanna come back down? There's dancing."

"No," he answered. He had come, had stayed and now he was leaving.

"Awe, come _on._ Please Vegeta?"

"No, I do not dance." he said firmly, taking the empty bottle of wine and placing it on the other side of him.

"Awe, I'll teach you, Vegeta," she insisted. "It's fun!"

"I never said I _could not_ dance," he clarified. I said I _do not_ dance,"

Bulma huffed in disappointment. As always, Vegeta always found a way to dampen the mood whenever things were going well. "Fine," she sighed.

Vegeta watched her as she stood up abruptly, swaying slightly and began to head to the door. He frowned as he watched her attempt to keep her balance on those shoes of hers and decided that there was no way she would be able to venture down those stairs in those shoes. Her legs had obviously fallen asleep from the way she had been sitting on them for the last hour or so they had been up there.

He stood up and quickly scooped her up into his arms and leapt off the roof, landing near the back entrance he had come where no one would notice them.

"Hey, give me some warning if you're going to do that!" she whined, wrapping her arms around his neck, trying to catch her balance.

Vegeta placed his hands on her hips without thinking. It was more of a natural reflex to help her regain her equilibrium again.

"You look so hot," she said, looking intently at him, lingering longer than she needed to.

"You're inebriated," he replied, gently pushing her away from him.

"I am _not,_ " she huffed in offense. She wasn't and it annoyed her that he'd said that or even thought that she might be. She almost wished in that moment that she _was_ a bit on the tipsy side. If she had been, she'd have had the courage to throw all caution and good sense out the window and kiss him and if he rejected her then she could simply excuse her actions and blame the alcohol; but she wasn't drunk. Not even a little. She was standing close enough to him still that she _could_ kiss him if she wanted to, but she chickened out. "You _do_ look really good today in normal clothes. I'm serious."

"Hmmmn," he grunted and left.

Bulma watched him leave and refrained from saying anything else and headed back to the party. She was just content that he'd shown up for a little bit. That alone was a huge step land something she had not expected.

"There you are," Derek greeted her as she was grabbing another glass of wine. "I was wondering where you'd gone,"

"Oh, nowhere," she brushed off. "I needed to talk to my son's father about something quick is all."

"Is he here?" he asked in interest, looking around.

"He was," she shrugged. "He's gone now. He just came for a quick bite to eat and discuss something with regards to Trunks."

"Sorry I missed him," Derek said.

"No, you aren't," she chuckled. "He hates things like this. He just came to eat and I had an issue with Trunks this morning and left him to figure it out. He was letting me know how that went. We just went outside and had lunch up on the roof where it was quiet is all,"

"Sounds romantic,"

"Yeah, right," she sorted. "Vegeta hasn't a romantic bone in his body." she said, still feeling a bit disappointed that he bailed already and didn't want to dance with her which she knew was stupid on her part because that was so _not_ Vegeta. _It was out of character for him to show up in the first place,_ she reminded herself.

He picked up on the slight tone of bitterness in her voice. "Want to dance?" he asked her cheerfully.

"I'd love to," she smiled, placing her drink down and taking his hand as he lead her out onto the dancefloor where there were quite a few people dancing already.

They danced and hung out together for the rest of the get together and had a great time and it wasn't long before she forgot all about Vegeta and just focused her attentions on Derek and having a great time.

-0-0-0-

The few weeks following the big Capsule Corporation party went by quickly.

Bulma wasn't sure why, but she noticed that Vegeta was more relaxed and open about spending time with _both_ her and Trunks together.

For the last three Sundays in a row, the three of them had gone to the park together for the afternoon as a family and Bulma couldn't remember the last time she'd had enjoyed her days off! Usually she'd found herself anticipating them just so she could sleep in and relax but now she had found herself looking forward to the three of them spending time together almost as though they were a normal family.

Things from there were also progressing slowly, but nicely between them. Recently she could have sworn he was flirting with her, but she wasn't sure. Vegeta was so vague and subtle when he did flirt with her that sometimes she didn't realize that he had been until later on when she was thinking about it on her own.

She was starting to feel more and more comfortable with him as the days and weeks went by; however this limbo they seemed to be caught in was beginning to frustrate her. Especially since at work, Derrek was becoming more forward and she was finding herself more and more tempted to go out with him since Vegeta seemed disinterested in anything else.

She liked Derek, but she _wanted_ Vegeta. However other than the odd teasing or flirtatious comment, Vegeta never made the move to instigate anything further so she was terribly confused as to whether or not she should or shouldn't try to open that door with him. What if it ruined all of the progress that they had made together? She didn't want that, but she didn't want to keep hoping and waiting for something more if it wasn't possible. She needed to move on with her life one way or another.

Bulma had plagued herself with these thoughts for the last two weeks before finally decided that she needed to know one way or another if she and Vegeta were going to have a chance at something more than being good friends and co parents to their son.

The problem was, she had no idea how to approach him on it or let him know how she felt.

Bulma knew she couldn't strut around in her cutest outfits and act like a ditz around him like she normally would; that sort of thing wouldn't work on him.

Every evening they spent together she had told herself that she would do something to instigate something more with him and every night she chickened out.

Tonight was no exception.

They'd been having a few drinks and snacks watching one of their favourite tv shows. She had been extra tired this evening and had obviously dozed off she realized as she noticed she was laying down but her head was in Vegeta's lap and one of his hands was on her head, lightly stroking her hair.

She lay there a moment, completely still, wondering how long she had been laying there and how long she had been asleep. Had she fallen asleep on his shoulder?

The last she remembered, she had been sitting next to him, closer than necessary. She had been trying to find a way to instigate a meaningful conversation with him and must have fallen asleep at some point.

She turned awkwardly in his lap, laying on her back so she could look up at him, deciding that maybe this was the right moment; _if_ there was ever going to be a right moment. This was it.

She reached up and touched the side of his face lightly, debating on whether she should kiss him or not; she sure wanted to but she didn't want to push him away. They had made so much progress that she didn't want to do anything to ruin it.

They had somehow over the last year evolved into good friends and companions. It was nice and it was so much more than she ever expected from him. If things stayed like this, she knew she would be somewhat content because things between them were peaceful and it was so good for Trunks to have his father in his life. But there was the selfish part of her that wanted _more._ If there was the possibility of something more developing between them, she didn't want to not explore it.

For as many times as she had told herself and everyone who would listen that she was done with Vegeta on a romantic standpoint and was only keeping the peace with him so that Trunks could have him in his life, she knew it wasn't true. She had never completely closed that door and she knew she would never get over him completely. Vegeta had rocked her world quite literally and even if she did someday move on and find someone to share her life with, she knew that a part of her heart would always belong to Vegeta.

Vegeta looked at her and noted that she seemed to be contemplating something. He also noticed a shift in her scent. As the minutes ticked by it was becoming slightly stronger and he recognized it immediately as the scent of her arousal and suddenly he had no idea what to do.

His gut and his head were both telling him to go. His heart and other anatomy however was urging him to stay and pursue this. He knew she wanted him and that all he needed to do was kiss her or offer some sort of encouragement along those lines and she would give herself to him for the night. The thought was appealing and he felt his lower half beginning to stir in anticipation at the thought of having her again after all these years.

_And what of tomorrow,_ he asked himself. He knew if he opened that door now and took pleasure in her company that she would expect more from him; much more than what he felt he could give her.

He was still very much attracted to her and he wanted her very much in the same way he had the last time they had gone down this road together and while yes, he had been more than satisfied with that arrangement it had inevitably soured and they now had a child as a result. Did he want to repeat that whole thing? _No,_ came the answer immediately. He didn't. He didn't mind spending time with her and the brat and living here wasn't the worst but he didn't want the hassle and complications he knew would arise if they crossed that line again and added physical intimacy into the equation.

Yet things between them were comfortable and easy. Would adding that physical aspect actually complicate it or would it enrich the current relationship that they had managed to cultivate? He wasn't sure what the best course of action was.

Vegeta suddenly began to feel claustrophobic and trapped. He needed time to think about what it was he wanted. Did he want _her_ in that way or was it best to simply leave things exactly like they were? How did he tell her what he was feeling without offending her?

As the moment dragged on and Bulma contemplated what to do, she decided to take the safe road and do nothing. What if they hooked up and both of them regretted it in the morning? What would happen to their current relationship? Would it be ruined?

Bulma knew that if they were intimate tonight that try as she may to not look into it more than what it was, if he then left and treated her with distain as he had last time, it would destroy her.

As she looked at him and noticed the slight confusion clouding his features, she wondered if he was thinking the same thing she was. His expression was soft, he didn't look angry but his eyes were guarded and she wished so badly that he would let her in and tell her what he wanted. Was he as afraid of this as she was?

"It's getting late," she sighed, getting up to leave. Her mind, body and heart screaming at her to just kiss him and see where the night would take them from there and worry about all the possible implications and consequences tomorrow. _Yea because that's what you did last time and that didn't turn out bad at all,_ she chastised herself. _I can't do friends with benefits. Maybe I could with Yamcha or Derek even, but not with him._

Vegeta simply nodded in agreement, feeling partially relieved that she was the one to make the decision because he was very much leaning towards the _screw the consequences category_ and have her here and now while the opportunity was open.

He stood up next to her as she shut the TV off and was surprised when she suddenly threw her arms around his neck and hugged him for a moment. "I'm so glad you are here with us, Vegeta," she said softly before letting him go.

Vegeta didn't return the embrace but took her hand as she turned from him to leave the room.

Surprised, she turned back to him. _Was this it,_ she asked herself hopefully. _Does he want to take things further?_

He winced inwardly at the hopeful look on her face and knew he was possibly making a huge mistake where she was concerned.

"I do not mind your company," he said cautiously. "But that is all I can give you. Anything else just complicates things."

Bulma tried to not show her disappointment. _But we could be so good together!_ She wanted to shout at him. Instead she simply nodded and swallowed the lump she felt suddenly in her throat. "Things are really good right now," she admitted.

He could see how hard she was trying not to let him see how disappointed she was and a part of him admired that.

"Well, I should get to bed," she said, looking away from him. It was true, she did; but she also needed to put some distance between them. She had just embarrassed herself and she needed to be alone.

_I should have known I was just breaking my own heart by getting my stupid hopes up,_ she vented as she walked out of the room as quickly as she could, not saying anything else to him.

_This was it,_ she decided. She was done hoping and trying for something more to happen between them. It upset her, but she decided to let things be and leave it at that. She would never embarrass herself in front of him like that again.

-0-0-0-

Two steps forward, four steps back... *Sigh*


	6. Chapter 6

_**Chapter 6** _

Bulma finished getting herself ready for the day. She had an important boardroom meeting presentation to do today despite feeling down and lacking in confidence, she made sure she was done up to the nines and wearing only the sexiest of lingerie under a very feminine, well fitted cream suit. One of the few things her mother had taught her: never underestimate the power of gorgeous underwear. While no one else knew what she was wearing underneath, _she_ did. And no matter how bad a day or week she was having, somehow knowing she was wearing something racy and gorgeous underneath made her stand taller and walk straighter. Sure it was silly, but it somehow helped.

Especially as of late.

She was still annoyed with Vegeta for blowing her off as he had about four weeks back.

Sure deep down she knew he was right. Things between them at the moment were better than ever. Why ruin it by adding a physical element into the equation?

That didn't hurt her ego and make the rejection sting any less however. Bulma tried to keep telling herself that it was for the best but that didn't seem to make it hurt any less.

So she did what any other self-respecting girl would do. She made sure she was done up to the nines everyday no matter what she was doing just to show Vegeta what he was missing out on. She didn't flirt with him, nor did she strategically drop things in front of him to give him an excuse to look her over. No, she'd played that game with him years ago when he'd first came to stay at Capsule Corporation. Besides, she knew he wouldn't fall for that. Not this time.

Instead, she was polite with him when she saw him. She only addressed him if she needed to and she refrained from saying anything rude to him or pushing his buttons. Their regular routine of watching tv together had dwindled because she had opted to remain at work later than she needed to in an effort to avoid Vegeta. When so did see him, she looked flawless and behaved professionally around him not giving him any cause for complaint.

She was done pursuing him but that didn't mean that she didn't want him to not realize what a mistake he had made. She wouldn't embarrass herself by letting him know how much she really wanted him and she wouldn't let him know how disappointed she was that he seemed to have no interest. At this point, she was just happy that he was still around and wasn't opposed to spending time with Trunks.

 _That_ was what motivated her to keep up positive and polite relations with him.

Bulma rushed out of the house and drove straight to the office as quickly as she could, raced upstairs to her office and frantically began looking for her folder with all of her notes and figures.

"What the hell did I do with them?" she asked herself out loud, realizing she couldn't find her presentation boards either. Her stomach dropped as soon as she realized none of it was here where she'd left it all.

She was about to storm out of her office to raise hell and find out who had been poking around in her office when she quite literally ran into Derek, spilling his coffee all down the front of her cream coloured designer suit.

"Oh shit!" he exclaimed. "I'm so sorry!"

Bulma took a deep breath to calm her nerves. It wasn't his fault she was rushing around like a mad person. "It's not your fault. Sorry, I'll bring you a coffee tomorrow morning."

"Actually, I got this one for you," he said with a grin.

She sighed, "Awe, that's nice of you. I really need one too. I'm late and I can't find any of my presentation notes or boards. I don't know where they are and I have like fifteen minutes to find them before my meeting starts and now I'm covered in coffee..." she rambled, taking off her suit jacket and tossing it onto one of the chairs in her office.

"Oh, sorry. I have them," he said. "I was a little earlier than I meant to be this morning and figured I'd help you out and set up some of the presentation stuff in the boardroom since I know you've been working so hard on this and are a bit nervous about it. Sorry, I was only trying to help and here I made it worse. Typical."

"Ohh," she groaned. "Thank you! Now I feel even more like an ass! I was about to go out there and rip someone a new one for going into my office."

"Sorry, I'll ask first next time," he said, still standing there awkwardly as he watched her inspect her skirt, which had a nice coffee stain on her crotch.

"That's okay," she said. "You were only trying to help. Shit, I can't go out there like this," she cursed, noticing that the receptionist was leading two men into the boardroom already.

They looked at the clock. Her presentation was to begin in ten minutes. It was approximately a ten minute drive back to her house, add on another ten minutes for her to choose something else and change, then another ten minutes for her to get back here. That was half an hour! This was a really important meeting. She and her father had been working on getting this company to only use Capsule Corporation products for months now. It was a potentially very lucrative account with a very prominent landscaping company interested in potentially purchasing vehicles for their employees through them. Problem was their chairman of the board was very cheap and not entirely convinced that he wanted to spend so much on something upfront despite the fact that the product would save them tons of money in the long run on maintenance and replacement costs, nor was he considering the longevity of Capsule Corporation's products and their excellent warranty when compared to any of their competitors. To Bulma it was a no brainer. You get what you pay for. Sure their products were expensive, but they were worth it in the long run.

"Would you like to start the presentation?" she asked him, weighing in her mind what would look worse, her showing up half an hour late into a presentation that had already been started or showing up half an hour late and then starting? Starting on time and sneaking in half way through was definitely the better option she decided. "Just tell them I had an emergency and rather than making them wait, I'll be about twenty minutes behind."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

"Yea," she nodded. "I trust you. You know everything about the products and what their main objections are to signing with us. I'm sure you can close them without my help. I was going to ask if you wanted to join me in there anyway seeing as you worked so hard with helping me put this presentation together for these guys."

"Sure, I don't mind starting for you, but what if they aren't?" he asked nervously. He was flattered that she trusted him enough to kick off this meeting.

"Just tell them you are going to start because I had a bit of an emergency to tend to and rather than let them wait for twenty minutes, I wanted to respect the time they took from their day to be here and still start on time," she explained. "If they are that insistent on me starting then that's fine. That's their call, make sure they get some coffee, try to entertain them while they wait and I'll start as soon as I get back."

He sighed deeply in nervousness. "Alright, I'll start."

"Thanks! You can do this! I'll be right back!" she said confidently as she ducked out of her office and headed towards the stairs to take the back way out of the building so she wouldn't risk running into any of the business men that would be present in the boardroom.

She decapsulated her air car and drove like a wild woman back to the compound, thanking her lucky stars that she didn't get pulled over. That was all she needed.

She parked and ran into the house, not even greeting Trunks or her mother as she ran up the stairs and into her bedroom to choose another suit.

Choosing a sharp, royal blue suit, she tossed it onto her bed and whipped off her skirt and ran to her dresser to change her camisole top as well. She was in such a hurry, she'd left her bedroom door wide open.

Vegeta stopped clean in his tracks just outside her bedroom door on his way for breakfast. He frowned as he watched her rifle through her drawer like a crazy person, clad in nothing but a very sexy pair of baby pink lace panties and matching bra, stay up nude fishnet stockings and high heel cream pumps the same colour her suit had been.

"God dammit!" she cursed as she couldn't find the top she was looking for and began to rummage frantically through another drawer. "This'll have to do," she muttered, holding up a white v-neck tank top with white lace around the neckline. It wasn't as modest as the one she was looking for, and it would display a bit more cleavage than what she would like but she didn't have time to be fussy. Her other two suits needed to go to the cleaners and her only other clean one was rumpled up because she'd tossed it onto the floor the last time she had worn it so it needed a good steaming and she didn't have time for that.

Bulma closed her drawer and turned around gasped as she saw Vegeta standing in her doorway looking at her. "Do you mind!" she shrieked at him. "I'm changing here!"

"You are the one who left the door wide open," he pointed out calmly, crossing his arms and leaning casually against the doorframe, looking her up and down appreciatively, not attempting to hide it from her that he was checking her out, as he usually did. She looked exceptionally gorgeous with her hair and makeup done just perfect and the underwear and heels just finished off the look. She looked like she'd stepped out of one of those magazine spreads the Weakling used to leave around the house. The fact that she was frazzled and obviously annoyed only added to her appeal and he was hard pressed to walk away as he knew he should have.

She felt the heat and redness of her flush spread from her chest and bloom up her neck and to her cheeks as she watched Vegeta eye her up and down like a wolf sizing up its prey before pouncing on it. _Oh god, I don't have time for this. Not right now!_ She lamented and immediately she felt a tingling between her thighs and in her frustration over the way the morning had started and still hurting over Vegeta rejecting her, she glared at him, placing her hands on her hips. "Ya, take a good look pal because that's all you get! Better yet, take an even _better_ look because it's the last look you're going to be getting, _ever_! This one's a freebie because I'm in a hurry and you're right, it's my fault for leaving my door open," she snapped at him, slipping the new top on as she walked back to her bed and picked up the new replacement skirt.

Vegeta took a step into her room and closed the door behind him, still watching her dress herself. What had he been thinking a few weeks back by not taking her? He found himself regretting that decision almost immediately and he had wanted to possibly change his mind, only she avoided him and since he refused to chase her, things kept on as they were. However he had not missed the obvious fact that she put great effort into looking nothing short of amazing whenever he saw her and it was bothering him. Hell the other day she had been done up and was doing nothing more than helping her mother with housework. He knew exactly what she was doing, so he ignored her and only looked at her when he knew she wasn't looking so that she wouldn't know. He did not want her to know how desirable he still found her.

Today was the first time he decided he _wanted to let her know_ and apparently he had chosen badly.

"What are you doing? Get _out!"_ she shrieked at him.

"Why? It is nothing that I have not seen before," he said with a smirk.

"Oh please, Vegeta," she snorted. "I don't have time for your cryptic bullshit right now. I'm having a shitty day and I have a very important presentation today that I needed to be there for like fifteen minutes ago."

Vegeta frowned. "Then what are you doing here?"

"I couldn't find my presentation notes and then spilled coffee all over myself like fifteen minutes before my meeting and its super important and I'm just... Awe shit, I have to change my shoes now too-" she rambled as she got dressed and he could tell she was trying not to get emotional over the bad day she was having.

As she darted back into her closet to look for different shoes, he felt somewhat bad for teasing her. He wasn't sure exactly what she had going on with work but he knew from listening to her speaking on the phone or with her father in recent weeks that there was some kind of important deal that was pending.

"Do these shoes go okay with this?" she asked, stepping out of the closet wearing a pair of black pumps.

Vegeta shrugged. _Why_ _is_ _she_ _asking_ _me_ , he wondered. "How should I know?"

"Thanks Vegeta, you're _soo_ helpful," she sighed in exasperation. "Or should I wear these white ones?" she asked, kicking off one of the black shoes and stepping her foot into a white shoe with a decent heel and a peep toe.

"Wear the white ones," he said after a moment when it was clear that she was apparently expecting him to weigh in his opinion. He didn't really have a preference, however she was wearing a white top under the jacket. So he thought the white shoes were a good choice seeing as he always wore white gloves and boots with his blue flight suit and her suit was near enough the same shade of blue. All in all, he thought she looked really good. "They match with the shirt."

Bulma looked at him a moment and smiled as she kicked off the other black shoe and slipping her feet into both white shoes. She went to the mirror on the wall to give herself a once over. "The skirt isn't too short?" she asked. It came to just slightly above her knees; it was nicely tailored and was very flattering to her bum. Most of her professional suit skirts came down to her calves or were ankle length and were pencil skirts.

"Your cleavage is showing and you're worried about your legs?" he snorted.

"Well, show off one or the other, not _both_." she said, rolling her eyes. "I don't look unprofessional, do I?"

Vegeta shrugged. Truthfully he had no idea and was regretting coming in here now. He had only done it in hopes of flirting a little with her and rattling her cage, not give her fashion advice. "I have no idea what that means but if you were a planetary dignitary, I think you look respectable."

She turned and smiled at him. "Thank you, Vegeta."

"Hmmmn," he grunted, feeling very out of place. This scenario was becoming weirder by the minute as he stood there looking at her.

"Shit! I gotta go!" she shrieked, turning away from him and racing to grab her purse. "Thanks for the input, Vegeta."

He didn't say anything as he followed her out of her room and down the stairs. Her heels were so high and she was hurrying so quickly he was surprised she didn't fall down the stairs or twist her ankle.

"Ugh, I'm so late and traffic is going to be ridiculous at this hour," she muttered.

"I could get you there in a few minutes," Vegeta said before he could think better of it. He had been thinking it and for some reason he had verbalized it.

"Would you mind?" she asked. Her hair was down anyway so it wasn't like she couldn't fix it really quickly.

Vegeta snorted but walked up to her and effortlessly scooped her up after she encapsulated her air car and took her shoes off to carry them or she'd lose them for sure.

Bulma gladly let him pick her up and she wrapped an arm around his neck and tucked her head under his chin, resting her cheek against him as he flew at nearly break neck speed towards Capsule Corporation's head office.

She closed her eyes, enjoying the moment of being in his arms. What was it about him that the moment he touched her, no matter how innocent, she felt desire ignite through her almost immediately. It was embarrassing! Especially since she knew he would notice with his heightened senses. It wasn't fair that she was an open book to him no matter how hard she tried to keep herself in check around him and he was so closed off from her and she had no indication to go off of to know if she affected him in a similar way that she was affected by him. _Probably not,_ she thought dejectedly.

Why was she still hoping for something that so obviously wasn't meant to be? It was time for her to give it up and move on. Start seeing other people. She was still young and attractive and sure she was technically a single mom but that didn't mean she had to spend the rest of her life being an old maid. After the last rejection, she told herself she would set her feelings for him aside for the good of their son and look elsewhere for what she needed. She closed her eyes and relaxed as she felt him tighten his hold on her for some reason. If this was the last time to be close to him like this, she didn't want to spoil it dwelling on all the what ifs and why nots.

Vegeta tightened his hold on her as he felt a gust of wind and noticed how she relaxed in his arms. He didn't know why he had stuck around. He should not have stopped in the hallway, he should not have gone into her bedroom, he should not have followed her down the stairs and outside and he should not have offered to bring her to work.

Now here he was. Taking her to work like he was her own personal chauffeur. Sure, it wasn't like he had anything better to do with his time, but that wasn't the point. The point was he never put someone else before himself. It wasn't his problem she was late because she'd clumsily spilt coffee all over herself.

Before they both knew it, Vegeta landed in front of the building in front of several pedestrians who gasped in surprise and shock of what they'd just witnessed. Was that the Capsule Corporation Heiress who was in the arms of a man who looked as though he had been flying and simply landed on the street?

A couple passers-by snapped a picture of them with their cell phones.

"Thanks, Vegeta," she said, stepping away from him as soon as he landed instead of lingering like she would have liked to if there hadn't been several people gawking and taking pictures of them.

"Hmmn," he grunted and shot off into the air without a further word.

Some of the pedestrians gasped at his sudden retreat into the sky and Bulma snorted and shook her head as she hurried into the building. _God forbid anyone catches Vegeta in the act of doing something nice or considerate for someone other than himself,_ she thought to herself as she raced up the stairs to the fifth floor.

She ran to the washroom once she made it to the correct floor to quickly check her hair. It was a tad windblown, but it looked like she had purposely volumized it and decided it looked really good. She slipped on her shoes and knocked on the door of the boardroom before walking in.

"There she is," Derek greeted her with a smile. Apparently they had been alright with him starting without her.

"Hi, my deepest apologies for my lateness," she said to the several board members of the company. "Something beyond my control came up unexpectedly and I needed to see to it immediately. I hope my colleague was able to kick things off to your satisfaction."

"It's quite alright, Miss Briefs," the chairman nodded, standing up to greet her respectfully. "In fact, he is quite persuasive, explained things extremely well and we've decided to come on board and sign on with an exclusive contract with Capsule Corporation."

"Excellent!" Bulma exclaimed, shooting Derek a smile. She'd known leaving him to do this would work out just fine. "Well Derek is a far better speaker than I am. I'm so glad that you were alright with him suddenly jumping in in my stead."

"I've heard you speak at conventions and other events, you are a fine speaker, Miss Briefs," the chairman commended her. "However, and do not take this the hard way, Derek is an excellent salesman."

"Oh," she nodded, unsure how to take that. "Well yes, he is a very important member of our team here at Capsule Corp. Thank you. I'm very excited to open this account with you and your team. Which line did you decide to go with?"

"All of them," he said.

"All of them?" she repeated. "Like all of the serving bots or all of the vehicles?"

"Everything," he repeated. "Derek here showed us not only how much we would save giving our employees leased vehicles through Capsule Corporation but the discounts we get by adding all of the house and home bots too. We can cut costs and salaries by having janitorial bots and be much more efficient with less people taking sick days and we can offer more evening and weekend services as well without the headache of worrying about paying overtime. We will be able to potentially increase our earnings by double by the end of this calendar year depending on how soon you can deliver."

Bulma looked at Derek in shock. She'd placed all her trust in him and had known that he would be just fine on his own but he had exceeded even her expectations. "Okay, well did Derek give you the catalogue of all our products?"

"He did,"

"Alright, at the back is a sheet with everything on it. Check off what you want and how many and fax or email it to the correct number or address on the bottom and usually someone will get back to you within twenty four hours to get what specific options you want and to let you know when you'll receive your order and if we don't have something in stock, we will process your order usually that same day, send a request to the factory for it to be built, and then let you know how long the wait will be. Right now I do believe we should have almost a full inventory. You could have most of your order at your front door and ready to go in less than a week."

"Wow, you are efficient," he nodded. "Alright, I will take the catalogue back with us and we will decide what we need first. We will send our order in by the end of the day."

"Alright! In that case, expect a call sometime tomorrow morning to confirm everything and all that fun stuff," she nodded, barely able to contain her excitement. "Make sure you call our credit department to get that ball rolling so there is no delay in getting your order processed and delivered."

"We already completed the credit application for the company. I got it auto approved already and he gave us a certified cheque with a down payment." Derek said to her.

"Well, look at you go," she grinned. "And here I felt bad that I was absent. You guys didn't need me at all."

"Sometimes better that way," the chairman chuckled. "You women talk too much. Derek here is quick and to the point. I like that."

"Right," she nodded. "Well thank you so much for coming in today and giving us a chance to improve your business needs and such." she said, extending her hand out to the four board members and shaking their hands as they began to file out of the boardroom.

They shook hands with Derek and Bulma allowed him to lead them out and towards the elevators as she began collecting all her notes and stuff.

As soon as they were gone, Derek came into the boardroom with a big grin on his face. "Now _that_ was fun," he said, leaning against the doorframe.

"Good job!" she commended him. "I honestly didn't think they'd be interested in anything more than the vehicles, wow. Make sure you send a commission chit upstairs to accounting. You deserve that."

"Thanks!" he beamed.

"And if you like, since you seem to have built up such a good rapport with them, I'll assign that account to you to handle from here on out if you'd like,"

"Sure!" he exclaimed, smiling even brighter if that was possible. "Thank you!"

"No problem, you deserve it," she said, picking up the rest of her things from the boardroom. "Truthfully, I don't really want to deal with him."

"Yea, he's a bit of a sexist,"

"Big time!" she snorted. "That's alright. He can be as much a sexist as he wants, I'll still take his money. Just make sure you give them special attention that nothing goes wrong with this deal. It was extremely difficult getting him in here in the first place."

"I'll make sure that it goes off without any issues. It's my only corporate account. How difficult could it be?" he said, taking some of the boards from her so she didn't have to carry it all back to her office.

"That's right! This is your first corporate account, isn't it?"

"It is," he nodded, following her into her office.

"Well congratulations!" she said. "Let me take you out for lunch and we'll celebrate."

"No, let me take _you_ to lunch," he countered. "It's because of you that I scored this huge account. This is the best thing that could have happened to me!"

"Hmmm, you sure you didn't spill that coffee all over me intentionally?" she asked, raising an eyebrow and mock frowning at him.

"What? No!" he exclaimed, his big grin fading immediately. "That was an accident, I swear!"

"I know, I'm bugging you," she snorted. "It's probably better that things happened the way that they did anyway. I'm not a sales person, I hate this department and cannot wait until I can go back into the lab and just go back to what I enjoy doing. Inventing and building things."

"Well if you go back to that department then I won't get to see to anymore," he said. "I forbid it." He added jokingly.

"Do you now?" she teased.

"If you leave this department then I'd insist that you need to go out on an actual proper date with me," he said.

"I'm serious," she sighed, deliberately ignoring him and his request for her to go out with him. "I _hate_ sales. I can tell you every single detail of every product we offer and all the benefits of it. If you are interested, then buy it. If you aren't, fuck off and get out of my office. I have better things to do with my time and about ten other people who will be interested with a lot less headache and hassle."

"Ya, you are so not a sales person," he chuckled. "I can just picture you saying that to Mr. Akira and how well that would have gone down."

"I'm serious," she said.

"Oh, I know you are!" he laughed. "I'm almost sorry that it didn't happen."

"Oh god, not good. My dad would have had a fit," she giggled. "I'm serious though, I _need_ to get out of this department."

"Speaking of which, I know it's early, but wanna get brunch instead of lunch?" he asked her.

"Hmmm, you know what? I do," she said after considering it a moment. "I didn't get breakfast this morning so I'm starving already and I have nothing left on my schedule for the day. I cleared everything because I didn't know how much time those guys would take."

"I don't have any appointments either," he nodded.

"Well, let's go celebrate then!" she said, grabbing her purse and closing her office door and walking to the reception desk. "Derek and I are taking an early lunch. I'm not sure if I'll be back but if there are any calls for me, just transfer them straight through to my cell phone, I'll still take them." she said to the receptionist.

"Um, me too if anyone calls for me," Derek said to her as well. She gave him a knowing smirk and nodded. She knew he had been dying to get Bulma to go out with her for some time now.

"Absolutely!" she said cheerfully and mouthed _good luck_ to him so Bulma wouldn't hear.

Derek nodded and gave her a discreet thumbs up sign before stepping into the elevator after Bulma.

They made it out to the street and she began rifling through her purse to find her air car.

"I'll drive," he said quickly.

"You sure?" she asked. "I don't mind,"

"I insist," he nodded. "I'm just parked over here,"

Bulma nodded and followed him around the corner where the staff parking was. She had to hold back a snicker as she noticed that her reserved parking spot was empty. It was _always_ empty. She never parked. Ever. She simply capsulated her car and then decapitated it on the street when she wanted to go.

Derek rushed in front of her and opened the passenger side door for Bulma.

"Thanks!" she said in surprise. She hadn't expected that. Even Yamcha very rarely opened doors for her when they were together. The only time he did it was when he was trying to get back into her good books or if it was a special occasion like their anniversary. This wasn't even a date and Derek had gone and done that.

"Where would you like to go?" Bulma asked him once he got in the car and started it.

"Where would _you_ like to go?" he countered. "It's up to you."

"Well no, we're out celebrating _your_ success this morning so _you_ get to decide where we go."

"Nope. You get to decide because you did all the groundwork for the deal. I just walked in and closed them," he insisted. "And I'm getting hungry, but we're not leaving this parking lot until you decide where we're going."

"Fine, be that way," she sighed. "But I'm only going to choose because I'm hungry. If I wasn't, we'd be sitting here a loooong time, buddy."

He chuckled. "I don't doubt it,"

Bulma chose a mainstream restaurant for them that wasn't too expensive or dressy but not so casual that they wouldn't blend in.

When they arrived, Derek was very prompt about closing the passenger side door of his car for her and opening the door to the restaurant. _Maybe I could get used to this,_ she thought and wondered if Vegeta would open doors for her too if they ever went out some place together. _Yeah right,_ she huffed inwardly.

They were seated immediately. It seemed they had missed the breakfast crowd and were right in time before the lunch rush.

The waitress approached them, asking what they would like.

Bulma looked at her watch; it was just after eleven o'clock. Sure it was a bit early, but whatever. "I'll have a glass of chilled chardonnay to start, please; and I'm still deciding what I'd like to eat."

Derek snorted at her and her beverage of choice for so early in the day. "Make that a bottle," he said cautiously, unsure if she'd disapprove or not.

"Right," the waitress said. "I'll be back with that and you both can decide what you'd like to eat."

Bulma chuckled at the look Derek was giving her. "Oh don't judge me after the morning I had, I _need_ a drink," she ranted. "Besides, it's five o'clock somewhere and you're one to talk. I ordered a glass, _you_ ordered an entire bottle."

"For us to _share_!" he countered in his own defence.

"Whatever, we're both alcoholics I guess," she sighed, looking through the menu, unsure of what she felt like. "I'll keep it under my hat if you do."

He laughed at her and started going through his menu as well.

They both ordered and ate their lunch, chatting with each other over work stuff and such. When the meal was winding down, Derek excused himself a moment and Bulma pulled out a compact mirror to check her appearance. Surprisingly enough, she was really enjoying hanging out with him outside of work.

"I'm so glad we did this," he said when he sat back down. "And I'm even more glad to have gotten that contract now because it finally forced you to come out on a date with me."

"This isn't a date," she scoffed. "It's a celebratory lunch brunch very early happy hour… thing."

"Uh huh," he nodded slowly. "Well I'm counting it as a lunch date, the first of many; especially if you're wanting to transfer out of the sales department."

"Look Derek, you're a really nice guy and I like you," she sighed, wishing he would drop the subject. She _did_ really like him but she wasn't sure she was ready to move on. Sure she'd been telling herself she was ready and willing to start dating but was she really?

"I know you do," he cut her off.

Bulma shot him a look as she finished her glass of wine.

"Come _on_. You're _always_ flirting with me."

"I do not!"

"Yes you do! You're terrible as a matter of fact!" he insisted, amused by her denial.

"Alright, fine. Maybe I do a little," she admitted. "But I flirt with everyone!"

"Not the way you flirt with me," he countered and she knew he had her there. "Can we get another bottle of wine, please?" he asked the waitress as she stepped up to their table.

"Look at you go," she chuckled at him.

"It _is_ Friday," he shrugged. "And I'm off tomorrow. That is, unless you have an objection."

"Nope," she shook her head at him. "I never have an objection to wine."

He laughed at her.

"Just so long as this isn't a ploy to take advantage of me," she joked.

"I wouldn't dare," he smiled. "In all seriousness though, why won't you consider going out with me? I'm a nice guy, which is probably why I'm still single because nice guys finish last," he sighed and paused as the waitress returned with another bottle of wine. He poured Bulma's glass first before filling his own.

"So what's wrong with you then that you're such a nice guy and still single?" she asked. "In my experience, the _nice_ _guys_ start out nice but then turn out to be assholes in disguise."

"Uh ohh," he said, taking a sip of wine. "Is that what happened with your son's father?"

"Ha haa! No no, oh no," she snorted. "Vegeta was an asshole from the get go. I knew that going in."

"Oh, so you're one of _those_ girls," he smirked at her.

"What do you mean I'm ' _one_ _of_ _those_ _girls'_?" she asked in offense.

"You know, those girls who always go for that exciting bad boy in hopes of saving him from himself," he clarified. "You're a nice girl with a heart of gold; I could definitely see you getting into something like that. You also have kind of a wild streak as well so you like the thrill of it until you realize that he's never going to change."

"Under normal circumstances, I'd agree with you, but Vegeta is different," she sighed. "I don't know what I was thinking when we got together. He practically gave me a list of all of his bad qualities before anything happened between us. It's not like he hid who he is, or was. He has changed a lot over the years. Like right when things got hot and heavy between us he basically told me he was a selfish pick only out for his own interests and us fucking meant nothing. Like as we were making out, before we hooked up. He gave me an out, and I chose to still pursue him. Now we have a child and I won't say it's terrible but it's not always easy. I get lonely. Yes he helps me out now that Trunks isn't a baby and I appreciate it so much. He's not the relationship type, but he is a great father to our son and that's good enough for me."

"And he lives with you, correct?"

"Yes, he lives with us," she nodded beginning to feel like maybe she'd had a little too much wine. She wasn't drunk or even tipsy but when she was close to tipsy, she was usually chattier than she should be about her personal life.

"So were you guys married or...?"

"No," she answered. "It was just a really brief fling, one of those things that seemed like a good idea at the time but then later on realized it was a mistake. But I have Trunks out of it so it wasn't all bad. How about you? Have you ever been married?" she asked, wanting to steer the direction of the conversation away from anything to do with Vegeta. She still wasn't sure what she wanted to do concerning him. Should she continue to wait for him in hopes that maybe they had a future together as a real family or give up and see what else was out there?

"No, never married. I was close once though," he said. "We were together for three years, moved in together, got engaged and then about three months before the wedding she decided that she was still in love with an ex-boyfriend of hers and wanted to go back to him because if she married me and didn't pursue that, she'd always wonder what if."

"Oh," she said, taking a long sip of her wine. That was why she was so afraid of giving someone else a chance. What if all Vegeta needed was more time to get used to the idea of a relationship and living as a normal family unit? But again what if he didn't and she spent the best years of her life single and alone? She didn't want that either. "I'm sorry that happened to you. Did she cheat?"

"No, not that I know of anyway," he shook his head. "I have friends that think she had to have and maybe she did, but I'm alright with giving her the benefit of the doubt. We both had a lot of respect for each other despite breaking up."

"Well that's good. Sad that it happened, but really good of you to not be bitter over it."

"What's the point?" he said.

"None, really," she agreed. "I was bitter over how things with Vegeta and I ended for a long time and it just got to the point where it took far too much energy than it was worth."

"Exactly!" he said raising his glass to her before taking another sip.

"Did you date anyone else after that?" she asked.

"Not really," he shook his head. "A few girls here and there but nothing serious. Not recently anyway. Three years ago, I started a very demanding position at this very prominent family owned and operated company you see, and so I have little time for a social life. There is, however, this striking woman who works there and she's technically my boss, but I'm so taken with her that I keep trying to think up ways to get her to go out with me but I'm having no luck. Any suggestions?"

Bulma laughed at him. "Well I think I know who you're talking about. I have it on good authority that she likes you too, but her personal life is so complicated, she'd rather not drag some poor nice guy into it."

"I see, so I keep hearing," he nodded. "How about you? Did you date anyone after Trunks' father?"

"No," she answered and suddenly she found herself embarrassed at that admission. "I was really hurt after that and I was busy with Trunks and my dad is handing off more responsibilities within the company to me in recent years so I haven't had the time to even think of dating."

"Do you think that you and he might get back together?" Derek asked. "I mean you both still live together."

Bulma took a decent sip of her wine as she thought of it seriously before answering. "No," she said, looking him in the eye. "We do live together and that's because of Trunks. But there's too much history there between us; things that have been said and done on _both_ sides that I can't see us ever coming back from. We're just friends now."

"Friends with benefits?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No," she replied immediately, though she thought of that night in her den when she'd fallen asleep in his lap. He had allowed it and she had woken up to him stroking her hair. How she wished now that she had been more aggressive and had at least tried to instigate something more. "We haven't been together like that in years."

"I see," he nodded.

"When is the cheque coming?" she asked suddenly, looking around for the waitress.

"I took care of it already," Derek grinned.

"That's where you want when you'd left?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Guilty as charged," he chuckled.

"Well this won't do," she sighed.

"I know, it's officially a _date_ now," he teased her.

"You're an ass," she said, trying not to laugh. For all her objections, deep down she was flattered that he was so persistent.

"Oh, if I'm an ass, maybe I'll qualify as worthy?" he teased her.

Bulma gaped at him a moment. "Wow, tell me how you _really_ feel?"

Derek laughed at her. "I didn't mean it,"

"Yes, you did," she countered. "Though from where you're sitting, I kind of get it I guess."

Derek shrugged. "So now that we're done here, what do you think we should do?"

"Not sure," she shrugged. "I might just go back to the office. You?"

"I was thinking we should go do something impulsive and stupid," he suggested.

"Oh, really," she laughed. "What did you have in mind?"

"Not sure, when was the last time you did something stupid and irresponsible?"

Bulma thought for a moment. The last time she'd done something irresponsible was when the androids had appeared and she'd nearly gotten herself and Trunks killed. However she didn't feel like telling that story. "Uhm, I hooked up with my son's father and became a mother?"

"Okay, I didn't quite have anything like _that_ in mind," he laughed. "I was more thinking of going to see an afternoon movie and sneaking alcohol in with us or taking a walk barefoot at the beach."

"Ha! Oh, my," she chuckled. "You, my friend, have _got_ to get another definition of irresponsible, impulsive and stupid if that's what you had in mind."

"Enlighten me," he said.

"One of these days," she said with a smile. "You'd not believe some of the things I've done and adventures I've had. Trust me, sneaking alcohol into a theatre isn't one of them."

"Then let's do it!" he said cheerfully. "You pretty much told everyone you were blowing off the afternoon anyway,"

Bulma thought about it a moment before deciding that maybe it wouldn't be so bad. So far, she was having a good time, and it wasn't like she needed to be back at work so why not? "Alright, mister. You've got yourself a date."

"I was hoping you'd say that," he chuckled, standing up. "Let's go hit a liquor store and decide what we're seeing once we get there."

"Sounds like a plan to me," she smiled, following him out of the restaurant, actually feeling excited to see what the afternoon had in store. She hadn't felt this giddy in ages. As tame as it was to some of the other things she had done in her youth, she actually felt like she was in high school again and skipping school to do something she probably shouldn't. However, sneaking alcohol into a theatre hadn't been crossed off her bucket list.

And so off they went…

-0-0-0-


	7. Chapter 7

_**Falling Away With You** _

_**Chapter 7** _

About a month had passed since Bulma's lunch date with Derek and the two had become nearly inseparable. They went for lunch together and Bulma stayed later at work than need be just so they could hang out.

Things were going really well, they got along perfectly and Derek treated Bulma like the princess she knew she was. However since they started seeing each other, she was adamant about not having Derek over and was not keen on having him meet Trunks just yet. As it was, she felt that they were moving at a fairly quick pace instead of slowly like she had intended. Physically they hadn't done anything yet, but emotionally she was beginning to become quite fond of him.

Thankfully, Derek didn't seem to mind and never made her uncomfortable with his displays of affection or make her feel pressure to move things quickly in that direction, which she really appreciated. While it had been _years_ since she had been physically intimate with anyone and wanted a decent hook up, she found herself almost dreading it because she hadn't done it in so long. Plus in Bulma's mind, if she slept with him, it meant permanently forever closing the door on a possible romantic reconciliation with Vegeta.

She knew that he most definitely wouldn't want her after she went there with another guy.

Bulma shrugged those thoughts away. She and Derek weren't there yet anyway. Today she was getting ready to spend the day with Trunks, as was the usual routine on Sundays. A part of her was really hoping Vegeta would come out with them.

She hadn't had the opportunity to tell him about Derek; he seemed to be avoiding her as of late again. At first she had been concerned that he had reverted back into that depressive state he had been in but obviously he hadn't; he was still training with Trunks every single day, according to her mother. He just seemed to make himself scarce when she was around, which bothered her somewhat.

Bulma wasn't sure what the reason for it was. She had first avoided him after he had shot her down for wanting to possibly deepen their relationship because she had been hurt and embarrassed. She had stupidly thought that because he was making such an effort with Trunks and because they hung out almost every night that he was possibly interested in something more but she had obviously misread him terribly.

It hurt. Even though she was moving on, it still hurt her but her goal was to not let him see that. However that didn't mean she didn't miss him coming out with her and Trunks or hanging out with her in the evenings or that she didn't feel the need to tell him about Derek before things between them got really serious. She figured she was over thinking it. Why would Vegeta even care what she did? Apparently he didn't even care if she lived or died, she reminded herself bitterly.

Whenever she began to get upset about Vegeta, _that_ was what she reminded herself of. This was the guy that walked, no practically _ran_ away, even going so far as leaving the planet to get away from her as far as possible once he had learned of her pregnancy. When he'd returned, he'd fought in the war with the androids as promised, but she'd nearly been killed and he hadn't blinked an eye or lifted a finger or even shown an ounce of concern or regret after the fact. It didn't matter to her that she should not have been there to begin with; she and Trunks had been in danger and if it weren't for someone else, they would have been killed.

_That_ was what she focused on whenever she began to feel disappointed with the state of her personal life and that the one man in the world that she wanted more than anything didn't want her. She chuckled to herself at the irony of that. Here she had a line-up of guys who would kill to have her go out with them and she wouldn't give any of them the time of day. Even Derek had persisted for almost a year before she finally relented and decided to go out with him. She was glad she'd given him a chance; he was a nice guy and they got along great but she just still felt like it wasn't quite right.

Bulma continued seeing him however because she wanted to give him an honest chance. No, he certainly wasn't Vegeta, but that seemed to be his only flaw and she thought that if she gave it some time, maybe she would eventually be able to fully move on and be happy with him. In her mind, if she couldn't be happy and make it work with Derek, then she was doomed to be single forever.

Single and pining away over some guy who wasn't interested in her for the rest of her life. _Pathetic,_ she sighed.

At least she assumed she wouldn't have to worry about Vegeta moving on and finding some hot young supermodel to spend his life with and flaunt in front of her like Yamcha had. Vegeta very rarely left the compound and when he did, she knew he went to areas that were isolated and devoid of civilization.

She sighed at the thought. Even if he did make the effort to find someone, who else would put up with him? _No one,_ she told herself. Alright, he was drop dead gorgeous and she knew without a doubt that he would have no trouble finding a girl to hook up with but beyond that, she just couldn't see it.

He was moody and temperamental. He had the emotional capacity and sensitivity of a stump; most girls wouldn't put up with that for long, nor would they understand or appreciate his need for personal space and brooding without assuming that they were the cause or accept that they could not fix it or help him. _She_ understood it to an extent and had no problem giving him a wide berth when he was in one of his moods because she herself was very independent and didn't like being smothered by her significant other. She could also simply hang out with him in companionable silence without having to be involved in a serious conversation at all times.

She also couldn't see Vegeta being too keen on taking long trips to the mall for shopping for shoes and makeup and the other typical things regular couples did. Any time she had taken Vegeta to the mall, it had been for _him_ and it was a get in and get out as quickly as possible situation before he lost his patience and blew up the mall.

Vegeta's appetite alone would put most households in the red and on the brink of bankruptcy within a week or two. So she couldn't picture some girl wanting him to move in with her unless she had a disposable income; even taking him out for dinner was nearly half a month's salary right there. Who would pay the outrageous bill? He didn't have a job, nor could she see him actually wanting to go out and find one either. _That would be beneath him,_ she snorted to herself. Besides, _former homicidal maniac soldier of a deranged galactic overlord lizard and displaced prince of an extinct warrior race_ wouldn't exactly look good on a resume.

So not only was he unable to provide financially or emotionally for someone, which would also wear thin after a while being that most girls expected a guy to dote and splurge on them, he really couldn't function in a normal society or domestic situation. He really had nothing going for him besides his looks.

Bulma knew that was mean and not entirely true. Vegeta had many good qualities that she admired however she felt that she was the only person who could appreciate those qualities and accept him as he was. What _normal_ _girl_ would be able to understand that he wasn't from this world or could deal with the amount of personal baggage he carried or accept his amazing strength and abilities? Not many that she knew of besides Chi-Chi, herself and apparently some girl that Gohan was seeing. He would frighten most girls and he would be seen as a freak most likely.

No, only _she_ understood him.

She shook her head, telling herself that it didn't matter anyway. Vegeta was free to do as he liked where finding a potential love interest was concerned, no matter how unlikely, just like she was.

Bulma finished getting dressed and decided to find Trunks. He and Vegeta should have been finished their morning training by now and she had promised to take Trunks to the amusement park today. It was the last day before it packed up and moved on and she knew he had wanted to go.

She made her way downstairs to the kitchen where they were both eating lunch.

"Hey, Trunks, hey Vegeta," she greeted casually. "You guys taking a break from training?"

"Ya," Trunks said between mouthfuls. "Dad taught me to do this!" he proudly announced, making a small ki ball in his hand.

"Boy, what did I tell you about doing that in the house?" Vegeta reminded him sternly.

"Oh ya, sorry," he grimaced and promptly made it go away.

"I see," Bulma commented, raising an eyebrow at Vegeta, unsure if she approved or not. However she had given him permission to train Trunks and manipulating ki was a very important part of what the Z warriors did so she supposed she couldn't be too upset over it. "Listen to your father, Trunks. If you destroy the house because of it, you'll be in big trouble, mister."

"Ya, dad told me already," he sighed. "I can't use ki in the house and I can't show the other kids at the park. I can only use it if I'm with dad or Goten and we can't use it unless dad or Goten's older brother Gohan are watching."

"He's absolutely right," she said, giving him a serious look. "So I was thinking that we might go to the fair this afternoon. Do you still want to go, Trunks?"

"Ya!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Alright, we will go after lunch," she said, grabbing a sandwich off the table. "Are you coming too, Vegeta?" she asked.

"Hmmn," he grunted uncommitted.

"Awe come on, dad!" Trunks whined. "You haven't come out with us in forever! I like when you come too."

Vegeta sighed. Truthfully, he wasn't interested. The woman had made a point of avoiding him over the last few months and so he was helping her with that.

"It'll be fun," she said to him, honestly she hoped he would come. Sure she was still disappointed that they weren't a couple, but she truthfully did miss his company and she liked it when he came out with her and Trunks on Sundays almost as much as Trunks did. She also wanted to talk to him about the fact that she was kind of sort of seeing Derek if the opportunity presented himself. She didn't feel right having Derek over to the house or letting Trunks meet him until Vegeta was aware of what the situation was.

He glanced at her briefly before nodding in acceptance. "Fine,"

"Yaay!" Trunks cheered, getting up from his chair and jumping up and down. "I'm going to get ready!"

"Make sure you bring a hat!" Bulma called out to him as he bolted out of the kitchen. Vegeta grunted and left the kitchen quickly as well before she had the chance to say anything to him.

Within a few minutes they were ready to go and sitting in Bulma's air car, on their way to the fair.

"I still don't know why we can't fly," Trunks complained in the back seat.

"Because not everyone can fly and you are not to attract unwanted attention to yourself," Vegeta growled. "And because your mother cannot fly,"

"Ya but we could get there so much faster!" he objected. "Why can't you just carry her? She can't weigh _that_ much."

"Excuse _me_!" she snapped at him, glaring at him through the rear view mirror.

Vegeta snorted but only looked out the window, wisely choosing to not touch that topic with a ten foot pole.

"You watch your mouth, young man or I'll be turning this car around and you won't be going at all!"

"Sorry," he mumbled. "Why can't you fly, mom?"

Bulma shot Vegeta a side glance, unsure of how to respond.

"Your mother never applied herself to learn," Vegeta answered for her.

"Well, you should learn, mom," Trunks sighed. "It's fun."

She frowned at Vegeta, not wanting to argue with him in front of Trunks. She supposed that maybe he was right. After all, Yamcha and Krillin could fly and they were just humans.

It didn't take long for them to make it to the fair. They exited the car and Bulma capsulized it and off they went.

They wandered around for a little while, taking in all the sights and attractions before Bulma gave Trunks some cash to buy ride tickets and watched him as he skipped to line up for his first ride of the day.

"Thanks for coming," Bulma said to Vegeta.

"Hmmn," he grunted. Truthfully, he was already ready to leave. There were far too many people around and bumping into him. The noises coming from the rides and games were almost deafening to him and the different mixed scents from the variety of food and concession stands was so overwhelming that he had moments where he felt nauseous depending how close they were and which way the wind was blowing. Altogether, it was sensory overload to him and for the first time since he had come to this planet, he found himself envying the humans and their not so sharp senses by comparison to his. This could have been a very effective method of torture that Frieza could have resorted to.

"I haven't seen you around much lately," Bulma said to him, trying to think of a way to start a conversation with him. "I know things got a bit awkward between us a while back but I still-"

"You may go about your business and I will go about mine," he cut her off. Truthfully, he already knew that she was seeing some fool from her work. He had gone back to her work the day she had come home to change and he had flown her back.

He had gone back because he had been regretting his decision weeks prior to not allow anything further than a mutual platonic relationship develop between them. On a whim, he had foolishly decided to pick her up later on from work and take her someplace secluded that he had discovered to make his intentions known; or at least make an _attempt_ at giving what she wanted from him a chance. He had discovered that he missed her company since the night she had come on to him and he had shot her down.

That morning after he had dropped her off, he kept telling himself that maybe he should make the effort so he had decided to lower himself and pursue her. However she had been gone when he had shown up at the Capsule Corporation head office. The receptionist had mentioned that she had left with someone so he had flown around the city to look for her and found her with the fool who had been shamelessly hovering over her at the Capsule Corporation party. They were at a park, acting stupid because they were both clearly inebriated.

He hadn't stayed long enough to observe them for very long but he knew the other male was interested in her.

Vegeta hadn't been sure how to react. A part of him had been relieved. If she had found someone else to occupy her time then it was a blessing in disguise. He didn't want anything more to happen between them anyway. They were raising Trunks mutually and that was good enough for him, or so he told himself.

On the other hand he did feel the sting of disappointment and jealousy and he didn't fully understand why because this had been what he'd wanted, wasn't it?

Bulma nodded awkwardly, unsure of what to say now.

Vegeta observed her quietly. She was clearly thrown by his abrupt tone and he could tell that she wanted to talk to him. Probably tell him about the other male she had found necessary to allow to monopolize so much of her time as of late. He wasn't stupid. Not only had he figured it out that day he had seen them but he noticed that she had been coming home later than usual ever since that day.

She was barely around and only saw Trunks on Sundays now because she was constantly "working". It annoyed him, but it was not his place to comment on it, just like he felt she had no right to comment on his comings and goings.

He was going to say something to her to let her know that already knew she was being courted by another male but then caught sight of said male that she had been seeing. He was with another woman and a child. _Interesting,_ he thought almost gleefully. What was with the males on this planet not being able to remain faithful for five minutes? _This_ _was_ _what_ _she_ _chose_ _to_ _waste_ _her_ _affections_ _on_ , he thought to himself. Sure he knew that it had been him that had shut her down; he knew that he would not be able to give her what she so desperately wanted. He knew he could have taken her to his bed that evening and he wished now that he had but what was done was done. At least he knew he could be faithful to her if they did enter into a _relationship_ as she liked to call it.

Not wanting to stick around for the inevitable blow up, he discreetly walked away from her. She had not noticed the other male yet or his exit; she was too consumed with her thoughts and keeping an eye on Trunks who was strapping himself into the ride.

Bulma sighed, trying to keep her composure. _Why is he always so difficult when I need to have a serious conversation with him?_

"Why so serious?" a voice from behind her taunted.

Bulma whirled around to see Derek chuckling behind her. "Hey," she replied, feeling her stomach drop in dread instead of excitement at unexpectedly running into her boyfriend.

She looked around and saw no sign of Vegeta and was hit immediately with a combination of annoyance, relief and confusion over the realization of his sudden absence.

"You alright?" Derek asked in concern. "You look a little bit upset."

"I'm fine," she said, waving her hand in dismissal. "How's it going with you? Is this Madison?"

"It is," he grinned, picking up the little girl and placing her on his shoulders. "And this is my sister, Amy,"

"Nice to meet you," Bulma smiled, offering her hand to the other girl.

"Wow, I'm sorry I'm just a little star struck," she replied, shaking her head at herself. "I've heard so much about you!"

"Oh, I'll bet," Bulma chuckled.

"Oh no, I didn't mean in the papers or magazines," she waved her hands. "I meant from Derek! He talks about you nonstop,"

"Thanks, sis, you're really doing a great job of embarrassing me." Derek said playfully to her.

"It's alright," Bulma nodded. "I didn't know you were coming today,"

"Well we weren't going to but then figured why not?" Derek shrugged. "Maddie's never been and it's nice out."

"Cool," she commented, looking around for Vegeta but he was either hiding very well or was gone altogether. She was assuming it was the second possibility. She could tell he hadn't been overly impressed with this scene. Probably too many people and too noisy for him. "Yea, Trunks is just on that ride. I'm waiting for him."

"You didn't go on with him?" Derek asked. "I thought you loved rides."

"I do," she nodded. "I'm just feeling a bit under the weather is all. Maybe I'll go with him on one of the boring ones later."

"Sorry you're not feeling great," he said in concern. That explained her odd behaviour.

"Oh, I'll be fine," she shrugged. "Ohh, looks like Trunks' ride is done,"

They watched as he bolted off the seat and came running back to Bulma. "Did you see that, mom?"

"I did," she nodded with enthusiasm, feeling a bit guilty that she had been so distracted she'd barely watched. "Did you like that one?"

"It was alright," he shrugged. "Dad can fly faster. Hey, where is dad?"

"I'm not sure, sweetie," she replied, looking around. "He may have left. It is really noisy and you know how he gets,"

"Oh, Trunks father is here?" Derek asked with interest.

"He was, yea," Bulma sighed. "Trunks, this is Derek. We work together at the office. Derek, this is my son, Trunks." she introduced them, wanting to change the subject of Vegeta and his possible whereabouts.

"Hey, Trunks!" Derek greeted. "How are you?"

"Fine," he replied politely but he could tell he was sulking because his father was gone.

"It's really nice to meet you," Derek said to him. "Your mom talks about you all the time."

"Great," he replied. "Mom, can we go look for dad?"

"I don't know if he's still here, sweetie. But we can definitely try and look for him as we go." Bulma said to him, trying to sound as positive as possible even though she knew the odds were very high that Vegeta was already back home and brooding or doing whatever it was he felt was more important at the moment.

"Nah, let's just go home," Trunks sighed in disappointment.

"But we just got here and you were excited about coming. It's all you talked about all week." she reminded him.

"Ya but I wanted you _and_ dad to come too," Trunks objected.

Bulma sighed, unsure of what to say and was feeling very awkward now that Derek and his sister were there listening to her try and comfort her kid because his idiot father decided to suddenly leave without explanation. "I'm sure he only left because he wasn't feeling well, sweetie." _That had better be the reason or I'm going to rip that sorry Saiyan a new one,_ she mentally ranted.

"Well you can hang out with me," Derek offered Trunks cheerfully. "I don't have anyone to go on rides with and I don't like going on my own. Think you can come with me?"

"I guess," Trunks huffed as he crossed his arms and looked away from them. He looked so much like Vegeta in that moment that Bulma could almost not believe it.

"Great! Which ride do you want to do next?" Derek asked him enthusiastically.

"I wanted to go on that one," he pointed to one ride called _The Zipper_ , where the occupants went into a small cage-type enclosure and that followed a track way high up but the sides were loose so the cage flipped around and around as the occupants were taken around the track. "I was going to ask dad to come on that one because it looks scary."

"Oh, sweetie I don't think you're tall enough for that one," she said, cringing at the ride. It _was_ one of her favourites back in the day but she didn't think they would let Trunks on. It was the one ride she'd had to wait _years_ to be allowed to ride and she remembered it was the one all the _cool kids_ went on. She was always excluded because she was too small. She remembered that by the time she had been big enough to meet the physical requirements to be allowed on, she'd gone on several wild adventures by that point and it paled by comparison to some of the stupid things she'd done. As far as rides went though, it was still one of her favourites.

"Well, let's see if he is," Derek said. "I've never gone on that one. I think you're a lot braver than I am, bud."

Trunks rolled his eyes. He hated when adults talked to him like he was a child. He supposed he _was_ a child. He was only four years old, but he was far more mature for his age than he should be and even he knew that.

"Thank you," Bulma said quietly to Derek as they made their way over to the _Zipper_.

"No problem!" he smiled. "Kind of a shame though, I'd love to have actually met him,"

"No, you don't. Trust me," Bulma replied quietly.

"I didn't even see you with anyone,"

"Ya, well that's Vegeta. He's really good at blending into the wood work when he wants to avoid being seen," she snorted bitterly.

Surprisingly enough, Trunks was allowed on the Zipper because of his weight. Bulma objected to how unfair that was she'd had to wait until her teens to go on this ride but here Trunks was allowed because of his build.

"He sure is a solid kid," Derek commented. "I don't think I've ever seen a kid his age built like _that."_

Bulma nodded. "It's good genetics, he takes after his father," she replied, not mentioning that it was also largely in part because they worked out and trained together almost _all_ day, every day.

"You can go on too, ma'am," the attendant told her.

"Oh no, I'm good, thanks." she declined with a smile.

"The ride seats three," he informed her. "Because your son isn't _quite_ tall enough, it would be better to have three people on and the groups of threes behind you probably won't want to split up just to let one kid on."

"Come _on,_ mom!" Trunks whined. "Compared to the stuff you said you did before, this will be a piece of cake."

"Alright," she sighed. "I can't believe you guys changed the ride so young kids can ride. Do you know this was the _only_ ride I couldn't go on for _years_ because of the stupid specifications? Do you know how much that sucked?"

"Ma'am, I'm sorry, I'm just the ride operator. I don't make the rules."

"Of course," she snorted and followed Trunks and Derek into the small cage where the three of them were squished like sardines. "Buckle up, Trunks,"

Once buckled up, the ride moved forward so the next group could be get on. Then it moved again to load the one after that and it was then the cage pitched forward, making it so they were staring at the ground from about fifteen feet in the air.

"Oh god," Derek moaned, bracing the side of the cage.

"This is _awesome_!" Trunks exclaimed.

"You have your seat belt done up, Trunks?" Bulma asked. She was sitting in the middle, in between them. "If you don't, you'll get thrown all over in here."

"I should _undo_ it then!"

"No!" she said sternly. "You'll get us kicked off if you do that, Trunks."

From below, Derek's sister, Amy walked as close to them as possible and looked up, pointing to them for her daughter to see. "You see Uncle Derek up there? He's going to probably get really sick after this."

"Am not!" he called back down to her.

"You guys are nuts!" she called back out to them. "You couldn't pay me enough to get in that thing."

"So we can make this thing move?" Trunks asked as it moved up again to load up another group, only this time the cage fell backwards so they were completely upside down now, not forward and facing the ground.

"Ya, or it will on its own just because of the gravity," Bulma answered, looking over at Derek who was as quiet as can be. "You alright over there?"

"Yup," he answered in a clipped tone.

Trunks ignored him and began experimentally rocking the cage, laughing as it began to move.

"Please don't," Derek said.

"Why not?" Trunks asked, not stopping. "Even if we fall, we're stuck in here so it will be fine,"

"Trunks, stop," Bulma hissed at him. Though she was trying not to laugh. He was definitely her kid.

Trunks huffed, but quit. What was the point if he couldn't have fun?

Derek took a deep breath to calm himself down. He hadn't realized he would be dangling upside down in mid-air for fifteen minutes before the ride actually started, nor did he realize that the occupants could rock and tip the cage if they wanted to; it hadn't looked _that_ bad from a distance and now waiting for it to actually start, the suspense was killing him. This alone should have been the ride.

After what felt like an eternity to him, the ride finally started. Slow at first before slowly building momentum and Trunks, of course, just couldn't refrain from rocking the cage. Without thinking, he took Bulma's hand and held it tight with his other hand bracing the wall and his eyes closed, waiting for it to be over.

Trunks on the other hand was having a great time and kept pushing and pushing to make the cage flip over completely. "Hey mom, think we can make this thing do a 360?" he asked, looking at her and noticed Derek holding her hand.

"I don't think that's a good idea, sweetie," she shook her head. "I think you'll make poor Derek sick."

_So what,_ he thought to himself and kept on trying to flip it. Why was he holding his mom's hand? Dad never held mom's hand. It bothered him. So he began obnoxiously rocking harder just to annoy Derek.

Bulma didn't bother asking Trunks to stop, but knew exactly what he was trying to do. She knew he'd seen Derek holding her hand and knew he was acting out. She figured the best way to deal with it was to ignore it instead of feeding into it.

Finally the ride came to an end and poor Derek had to endure sitting upside-down again until it was time for them to be let out. Trunks, of course felt it necessary to keep trying to flip the whole thing, which he managed to do twice now that they were still.

"Can we go again, mom?" he asked enthusiastically. "I figured out how to make this thing flip. You gotta rock it and then push like _this_ ," he said, making it flip again. "And it always will."

"Maybe in a little while, Trunks," she said, feeling bad for him. If it were just the two of them she wouldn't have cared about him flipping them around like that. "Can you please stop now? Derek isn't feeling well."

"Fine," he huffed, sitting back and crossing his arms. It hadn't escaped his notice that Derek was _still_ holding his mom's hand even though they were still and not moving anymore. What was there to be afraid of now?

Eventually it was their turn to be let off and Derek bolted out of the cage as quickly as possible, running to go find a garbage barrel to throw up in.

"I told him he'd get sick," his sister laughed. "I don't know why he always does that,"

"Does what?" Bulma asked, grimacing as she saw him throwing up in a garbage bin not thirty feet away.

"Goes on some stupid, ridiculous ride to impress some girl. He _knows_ he gets motion sickness." she told Bulma.

"I thought he liked the rides," she replied in confusion.

"Oh he _does_ ," she clarified. "He just can't do rides where he gets turned and left upside down. Anything else he's fine with."

"Ohh," Bulma shook her head. "Hence why this is one of the ones he _hasn't_ been on."

"Exactly," she nodded. "I think he felt bad that Trunks was upset his dad left. That's why he went on; because otherwise he knows better."

"Awe, he didn't have to do that," she sighed, feeling even worse now.

"It's all good," Amy laughed, waving a hand in dismissal. "Trust me, he _really_ likes you so to him it will have been worth it."

Bulma felt her cheeks redden a little at his sister's openness.

"Mom, can we get some food now? I'm hungry," Trunks asked.

"Sure, just wait a few minutes," she answered, not wanting to just ditch Derek.

Once he was done being sick, they all went to grab something. Trunks got three giant hot dogs, a cotton candy, two elephant ears and a huge box of mini donuts. Bulma settled on snacking on a couple of Trunks' mini donuts and Derek didn't feel well enough to have anything other than water.

They all hung out for a little while after that before parting ways. Derek still wasn't feeling well and Trunks wanted to go on more rides.

Bulma of course obliged him and they went on every single ride that Trunks wanted, even doing the _Zipper_ again. This time, the attendant didn't care that there was only the two of them and didn't try to let someone else on with them.

This time, not only did Bulma let him rock and tip and flip it to his little heart's content, she joined in on the shenanigans and they had a riot.

After that, it was pretty late and Bulma still had to get ready for work for the week.

Trunks insisted on getting a box of mini donuts for Vegeta before leaving so they did that and headed home.

It was somewhat of an awkward ride for them both but neither of them said much. Bulma didn't know how to tell Trunks about how he might be seeing more of Derek and Trunks wanted to know why his father hadn't stuck around.

In his mind Derek had been alright, but he'd wanted Vegeta to be there to go on rides with and maybe hold his mom's hand and eat snacks. Why had his dad left? If it had been his dad with them instead of Derek, it would have been perfect. He just didn't understand why it wasn't like that.

"I had fun, mom," he said as they got out of the car.

"Good, sweetie! I'm glad," she said with a smile. "Don't forget those mini donuts for your dad. They don't taste very good the next day."

"Okay! I'm going to go find him!" he announced, box of donuts in hand and bouncing into the house.

Bulma smiled to herself. All in all the day hadn't turned out bad. Sure she was disappointed in Vegeta just up and disappearing without any explanation but she also wasn't sure what she should have expected either. Vegeta hated crowds and noises. However it was almost laughable to think that Vegeta would be keen on jumping into a possible life threatening battle or facing a dangerous enemy head on, no questions asked yet he couldn't endure the atmosphere of an amusement park for even an hour for the sake of his son.

She shook her head as she thought about that and chucked her keys on the table by her purse.

Once again she was reminded that he simply wasn't a good choice. There were signs and red flags at almost every turn warning her to stay away from him. Things weren't terrible, but Vegeta simply couldn't be consistent or maintain a positive equilibrium for any length of time. Every time something positive happened between them, it was like he felt this need to screw it up. _Then again, that's what he's good at, blowing things up,_ she thought in dismay and once again she felt she was making the right choice by giving Derek a chance.

"Mom? Where's dad?" Trunks shouted down the hallway as she was on her way upstairs to her room.

"I don't know," she replied, inwardly cursing the man. "Maybe he went out tonight, you know he sometimes likes to be alone."

"Ya but he was alone all day," Trunks pointed out dejectedly. "Should I go look for him?"

"No, it's bed time, sweetie," she replied, shaking her head and ushering him towards his own room.

"I can fly around and look for him," he persisted. "I'm not as fast as dad, but I'm still pretty fast and he taught me how to look for energy signals. I can find him!"

"No, Trunks, just leave him be," she said again. "I'm sure he will be back in the morning just in time for you to train again. Besides, did he teach you how to _hide_ your energy signal?"

"No, not yet,"

"Well, he's probably hiding his energy so no one can find him, not even you," she told him.

"Why wouldn't he want me to find him?" Trunks asked and she immediately regretted her choice of words.

"Not just you, sweetie," she said quickly, trying to remedy things. "He wouldn't want Gohan or Krillin or anyone out looking for him, that's why. It's not that he is trying to keep you away."

"Then why isn't he here and why did he leave today?"

"I don't know, Trunks," she sighed. Vegeta was going to get it when he did come back. "You'll have to ask him when he comes back."

"How come when we all go out dad doesn't hold your hand?" he asked suddenly. That Derek had been holding her hand not only on the ride but a few times after was really picking at him.

_Oh god,_ she groaned inwardly. "Your father isn't comfortable with showing affection in public," she stumbled.

He didn't really understand, but he nodded. "I'll tell dad when I see him that I think he _should_ hold your hand."

"That's very sweet of you," she sighed, not discouraging him from it because it was Vegeta's turn to sit through an uncomfortable conversation with their son. Besides, it was all his fault they weren't a normal family unit. "Now get ready for bed, mum needs to get ready too. I have to be up early for work in the morning."

"Okay," he said with a yawn. "Dad cares about us, doesn't he?"

"Of course he does!" she exclaimed and the fact that he felt the need to ask such a thing nearly broke her heart. "Your father cares very much; he just sometimes has a hard time showing it because when he was your age, no one told him that they cared about him so no one showed him how, that's all."

"Oh," was all he said. "Not even his mom?"

Bulma shrugged and shook her head, trying to come up with an explanation for something that she knew absolutely nothing about. Vegeta had not once spoken about his mother and almost never his father. The only thing she knew about his father was that he trained with him and he was taken from him at a very young age and then Frieza had killed him when he had tried to take his son back. That there, in her opinion, was overwhelming evidence of a man that loved his son.

"You know what?" she finally said, not wanting to make things up or tell Trunks some disturbing story so close to bed time that she didn't even feel was her story to be telling in the first place.

"What?"

"I actually don't know anything about your grandmother on your father's side. You will have to ask him one day. But if he was anything like you at your age, I know she loved him very much."

Trunks shrugged and went to get his pyjamas. "I will ask him tomorrow," he said. "Good night, mom,"

"Good night, sweetie," she told him, giving him a hug. "Make sure that you brush your teeth. You ate a lot of junk food today,"

"I will," he said.

Bulma left his room and sighed heavily. _Where the hell was Vegeta,_ she wondered in annoyance as she marched into his room without knocking. She walked through his bathroom and looked out on his balcony but he wasn't there.

Giving up, she headed back to her own bedroom and began running herself a bath. She checked her own balcony to see if he was lurking there as he sometimes did, but he wasn't there either.

She went to her bonus room to grab a book and a glass of wine before going back into her bathroom for her bath and some much needed relaxation.

About an hour or so later, Bulma was finished her bath and changed into a loose, thigh length satin night dress. The air conditioner on their side of the compound had crapped out and it would be another three days before the repair guys would be over.

So she brought out her favourite body lotion, chose a nail polish, poured herself another glass of wine and went to her den to watch some TV for a little while before turning in for bed.

As she made herself comfortable and began applying lotion to her legs, she didn't hear or notice Vegeta land on her balcony. Because it was so warm, she'd left the sliding door wide open in hopes of catching the cool breeze.

Vegeta cautiously crept into her den, crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame of the entrance as he watched her for a few minutes as she slowly rubbed lotion up and down all over her long legs. He felt himself begin to grow hard as he watched her, recalling what it had felt like to have those long, prefect legs wrapped around his waist. _Perhaps coming here now was a bad idea,_ he told himself but he coughed lightly, announcing his presence so his inappropriate thoughts wouldn't continue to plague him; _that_ was not why he was here.

"Jesus Vegeta!" she snapped at him. "Maybe try knocking next time? Where the hell have you been and what do you want anyway?"

Vegeta stood there a moment, looking at her, not completely sure what he wanted. Eventually, he just came into the room and sat down on the couch next to her; not close to her, but not on the complete opposite side either.

"Thanks for just ditching and bailing this afternoon," she said sarcastically, resuming rubbing her legs down; completely oblivious to the way he was looking at her and the way it was affecting him. She wasn't intentionally trying to tease or entice him and that fact alone seemed to make her even more appealing to him in that moment. "Trunks was really upset, you know."

Vegeta shrugged. He didn't have anything to say.

"So, what do you want?" she asked again, in annoyance this time, placing the lotion down on the table and reaching for Kleenex and nail polish remover to begin painting her toes. She was really working hard at holding her tongue and not ripping a strip off of him over his disappearing act this afternoon.

_You,_ he almost said but then caught himself. "I want to take Trunks on a trip."

"Okay, where?" she asked.

"Nowhere you have ever been," he replied somewhat sourly.

"Okay, but I still would like to know _where_ you are planning on taking him _if_ you get to take him anywhere."

"Space."

"Absolutely not," she snorted. "Are you out of your mind, Vegeta?"

"No," he said. "I want to educate my son. I want him to learn about his heritage and to not grow up with the close minded attitude that humans seem to have; this diluted sense that you are the sole beings in this entire universe. You wish him to be educated on all things, here I am offering to educate him."

"Well you can do all that here," she said, brushing him off. "I don't have a problem with you teaching him about your cultural heritage and where he comes from, I encourage it actually because he is starting to ask questions that I can't answer. You can teach him about other planets and races and whatever you want, I'm all for that; but you are _not_ taking him out into space."

"He is going to want to see these things. I want him to see and experience them for himself," Vegeta explained.

Bulma thought for a moment before replying. "Maybe when he's a little older. For right now he's too little for something like that. What's he going to do if something happens on some random planet?"

"Do you not trust me to look after the boy?" he asked, not attempting to hide his offense at the notion that she apparently thought otherwise.

"Not really, no," she answered rather flippantly. "I know how you are. You'll look out for him and watch over him so long as it suits yourself. If he pisses you off, you'd think nothing of taking off and leaving him behind somewhere while you go brood or cool off or whatever it is you like to do when things don't go your way, and should something happen or he encounter something bad, you'd have no problem letting him fend for himself depending on whether or not you're still in one of your vindictive moods."

Vegeta sat there with his mouth agape at her explanation and wasn't sure how to even respond to the horrible allegations she had just thrown at him.

"Look, I'm not trying to be a bitch-"

"Well you could fool me!" he snarled.

"I'm serious, Vegeta!" she said, putting her nail polish down to look at him. "If you want to put the effort in and have some sort of father and son bonding thing, go for it! _Please_ take him. Go anywhere you want for a few days or a week even; he _needs_ that. He was asking me things about you tonight that only _you_ can answer. I don't have a problem with you taking him just so long that it's on _this_ planet."

He still glared at her. "There is nothing of interest here," he said.

"Maybe not to _you_ there isn't," she argued. "But he's four! He hasn't been anywhere so to him everything will be interesting to him. And if you ditch him one day during one of your temper tantrums or because you lose interest, at least I _know_ he can fly and hopefully find his way home."

Vegeta shook his head at her. "I would _never_ randomly leave him somewhere."

"Oh, you wouldn't? What the hell was that today at the park, you just fucked off without a word. No warning or reason that I can decipher," she lay into him. "Oh and what about the time you didn't give a shit about my ship being blown up because you were pissed off at me?"

"You do _not_ want to go _there,"_ he replied darkly, in a nasty tone that would have make the hair on the back of most people's neck stand on end.

"Why not?" she shot back. "We never really discussed it, nor have you ever apologized!"

"I am not obliged to apologize for someone else's actions that nearly caused your demise. Nor am I obligated to apologize for your own stupidity and lack of self-preservation. If you had not been there, it would not have happened."

"That's beside the point!" she shouted at him. "It doesn't matter that you _think_ that I shouldn'thave been there! Alright, you're right! I should have stayed home. Is that what you want to hear? But I _didn't_! I came out, it happened and you didn't even _react_!"

"What does your stupidity have to do with me not being allowed to take my son and show him the galaxy?" he asked.

"Because you can be very selfish, Vegeta," she replied with a sigh. "Something doesn't go your way, you just take off. By the way, if you have any desire to cultivate a meaningful relationship with your son, you're going to have to cut that shit out. He's not a baby anymore and he will notice when you aren't around and wonder why."

Vegeta didn't say anything for a moment. He knew she was right. He would have to think twice about up and leaving. He should have left when he had originally intended to leave; when the boy still had no memory of him. "You are one to talk," he finally replied snidely. "You are never home and only see the boy once a week at best because you are out fucking around with that fool from your workplace."

Bulma shot him a look. How did he _know_ about that? _Nobody_ knew! With the exception of a few people at work, no one knew. Not even her parents. "That's none of your business," she said.

"True, it is not," he agreed. "However do _not_ criticize me when it is _you_ who is barely around."

Bulma groaned out loud at him because she knew he was right; he was around more than she was and he had more to do with Trunks than she currently did. "Look, I don't know how you know that but I wanted to wait until I knew whether or not this _thing_ with Derek was going anywhere or not before bringing him here and introducing him to Trunks," she explained. "I also wanted to be the one to tell you before I brought him over here to hang out, so for now we hang out at work. I shouldn't have to feel the need to give you an explanation over my absence since it is _me_ who provides. I thought I was being respectful of you by not jumping the gun and bringing him here and flaunting it in front of you before informing you that I was seeing someone."

She looked at him a moment, gauging his reaction. Was it terrible that a part of her wanted him to tell her to stop seeing Derek? That he'd had a change of heart and wanted her. Sure she really _liked_ Derek, but if Vegeta asked her to stop seeing Derek, she would. In a heartbeat.

Did that make her a terrible person?

Vegeta chuckled darkly at her and it annoyed him that it _bothered_ him that she had confirmed what he'd already known. "You may do as you wish, why would I give a fuck?"

She took a deep breath for a moment, trying to keep herself from losing it on him and to swallow back her disappointment. "I _know_ I can do whatever I want, but I was trying to be considerate of you and how you may feel if I moved on."

"What do I care?"

"You'll be able to handle it?" she taunted. "Me kissing someone else and sleeping with someone else?"

"Why do you _think_ I would care?" he snarled again. In truth he _wished_ he didn't care but the longer they discussed it, he was realizing that maybe he _did_ care. Which was ludicrous because he was only here for the boy. Not for his mother. "We fucked for a few days and it resulted in the boy. That is all we are to each other."

Bulma looked at him, truly hurt again. _Remember this,_ she told herself. _Remember it and burn it and imprint it forever into your skull._ "Alright," she replied, swallowing down the burning sensation in her throat with a healthy sip of wine.

Vegeta fought the urge to go to her and take his statements back but he didn't. It was better this way. Less complicated.

"I just thought I'd be respectful of you," she said quietly. "If you..."

"What?" he spat.

"Let me _try_ ," she said, realizing she was dangerously close to making a fool of herself again in front of him. How was it that she could harden her heart and make the effort of moving on without him, but the second they were together and alone, that resolve crumbled and her hopes of him changing his mind and telling her that he _did_ want her and wanted to be a family with her and Trunks were brought back up full force? It wasn't fair! "Actually, never mind. You're right, I _can_ do whatever I want, I can go wherever I want and I can date whoever I want because I don't owe you a single thing!"

"Glad you finally got that figured out," he said snidely.

"You know what?" she asked, still upset with him and not wanting him to leave without a few thoughts on his mind.

"Hmmmn?"

"You're working so hard on telling yourself that _us_ being a _thing_ is such a bad idea, you aren't even willing to stop and think about _why._ You're going to wake up one day and realize that you screwed up the best thing that could have happened to you!"

"Did you memorize that from one of these idiotic programs you like to immerse yourself in?" Vegeta laughed at her, enraging her further. "Tell me what it is that you _think_ you want from me?"

"I don't want _anything_ from you," she said. "I want to be with someone. I want to be with a guy I can have fun with, someone whose company I enjoy. I want to be with a guy who wants to be with me and who wants to hold my hand when we go out. I want to be with a guy who can be an emotional support to me when I need it and help me raise Trunks. Being that _you_ are his biological father, I had thought that you would be a good candidate but seeing as you cannot give me that, I don't want or need _anything_ from you."

Vegeta snorted but said nothing. It was surprising to him how much her words actually stung… Alright, hurt.

"I'm serious," she said. "When you decide what you want is _me_ , I'm going to have moved on and be happy with someone else and you will be alone."

Vegeta shrugged, still finding her speech amusing and trying to hide that she had hurt him. He was not going to grovel and make a fool of himself for her. If she wanted him, she had to come get him. "I have news for you, I _want_ to be left alone."

Bulma sighed. "Right,"

"I _will_ be taking the boy away on a trip, however." he said, changing the subject.

"Like hell you are!" she snapped at him. " _Go_ , be _alone_ like you want. Just do us both a favour and leave us _both_ alone. All you do is ruin everything!"

"And what will you tell the boy when he notices my absence?"

"I'll tell him his father is a selfish son of a bitch who cares about no one else but himself."

In a second, before the words were out of her mouth, he was on her. She was leaned back into the couch, his arms were on either side of her, caging her and the weight of the glare he was sending to her was heavy and frightening, yet he was absolutely not touching her. "You will do no such thing," he growled in a low tone that made the hair on the back of her neck stand on end and she was struck with equal parts fear and arousal. It was confusing to her as she knew that he was angry, not trying to entice her. It was confusing to her, as she knew that he was angry and that she should have been very afraid of him.

_What the hell is wrong with me,_ she asked herself. All she could think about was how he would feel between her legs and on top of her; how his lips would feel on her mouth and jaw and neck. How his hands would feel touching her or even pinning her own hands over her head as he ravaged her body. _Oh god, it has clearly been way too long since I got laid,_ she told herself.

As he looked down at her though, she thought she saw something other than anger in his eyes. She _knew_ he was having the exact same thoughts that she was right then. _Go for it! Come on!_ She chanted mentally, pleading with him. She wasn't going to be the instigator here, she was done putting herself and her feelings out there, on the line for him. If he wanted her, he needed to come get her.

His mind went blank. The threatening, angry tirade he had in mind was forgotten and he cursed himself for his weakness where she was concerned. She was laying there, stubbornly looking up at him. Her chest heaving; her night dress was low cut, exposing her well-endowed cleavage flatteringly. It also barely covered her thighs and he knew that she wasn't wearing panties. One glance further downward was all he needed to do to confirm his suspicions and he scoffed at what a useless and impractical garment she was wearing. Useless, impractical but alluring.

Subconsciously she brought one of her knees up, lightly brushing his side in encouragement. She could tell he was contemplating on whether to proceed or not and she definitely wanted him to. If they did this, she would end it with Derek _tomorrow_.

"I'll stop seeing him," she said without thinking. "It can be just you and me and Trunks. We can make this work if you let me in and we _both try_."

"You said you do not need me," he reminded her, leaning closer into her but still not touching her, regaining his wits and reminding himself that this was not a good idea.

"No, I don't," she shrugged. "But I _want_ you."

There it was. _That_ was what he'd wanted to hear from her. Yet it wasn't enough. He wanted her to throw herself at him, to _beg_ for him.

She stared back at him, waiting for him to make a move and he didn't. She wasn't sure if she should touch him or let him work this out on his own. She suspected that he had bailed on her the way he had last time because she had made him feel rushed. She had told him prematurely that she loved him and being that Vegeta wasn't the type to openly profess feelings other than rage, she could somewhat understand his reasons.

Deciding on leaving him to figure it out on his own, she sat up as best as she could, which brought her closer to him. Their lips were less than an inch away and she could feel his breath on the side of her face.

_If you're going to kiss me, now is the time,_ she felt like telling him. This reminded her of the stupid little games they used to play with each other in the weeks before they finally hooked up.

While it was disappointing on some level that he was hesitating, she also found it thrilling because of the intensity of it.

"You can take Trunks anywhere you want on a trip _here,_ on _this_ planet," she said, deciding that he was taking too long to make a decision.

He opened his mouth to object but she placed her fingers on his mouth before he could say anything.

"As a trial," she said. "See how it is. Take him for a few days. If he drives you crazy, then you're only a few hours away and you can bring him back. He may not be ready for a week or month long trip. He's never been away from home. Start out with an overnight trip, then a weekend or two and work up to a week. You can tell him that he's going to go with you on some epic month-long trip into outer space and I know he will jump up and down and be all about it but that's because he's four. He has no concept of time and not being able to just come home and trust me, you will not want to be weeks away from home with a home sick child who just wants to come home and see his mom.

"It won't be personal or anything to do with you. At this age, that's asking a lot of him. When he is a little older and accustomed to being away from home for more than a few days, then you can take him," she explained. "How is that for a compromise?"

Vegeta nodded, but didn't say anything. Actually it made a whole lot of sense and he saw that it wasn't that she was purposely denying him to be a bitch. She was only concerned about Trunks.

Instead of kissing her like she half expected, he moved away from her. "We will leave for our first trip in a few days," he said.

"Alright," she sighed in disappointment. "Just let my mom know so she can get you some things you might need and give me a heads up about when you are going and you can go,"

"Hmmmn," he nodded and left her room. He needed to get out of there before he did something stupid and bedded her.

Vegeta blasted off into the sky to find himself someplace to think and consider what he really wanted, leaving Bulma behind confused and very hot and bothered.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Falling Away With You** _

_**Chapter 8** _

The next day after her discussion with Vegeta, Bulma thought long and hard about what she wanted to do with regards to Derek but couldn't quite come up with a simple solution about it.

Yes, she told Vegeta she would break things off with him and she had meant it; if Vegeta wanted her, then she _would_ end it without a second thought. However, Vegeta _hadn't_ told her what he wanted either. He hadn't commented at all on the matter and so she decided that she wouldn't put the kibosh on something potentially good for the guy who could not or _would_ _not_ commit to her.

"Why should I be the one doing all the work?" she muttered to herself as she finished getting dressed for the day. _I told him that I wanted him and he still didn't make a move._

She exited her bedroom and headed down to the kitchen. As usual, Trunks and Vegeta were outside in the yard doing their morning training ritual and she wondered if Trunks had asked him about why someone else had been holding her hand and why he never did. She chuckled silently to herself, wishing she could be around for that conversation just to see the look on his face and how he would respond to that.

Grabbing a breakfast muffin and her coffee, she exited the house without greeting either of them, thinking it was best to let them spend time together uninterrupted; especially after Vegeta had ditched Trunks yesterday at the amusement park.

Her day passed by uneventful. Sales were down at the moment due to an economic down turn but they were still steady and doing better than their competition so that was the main thing.

Derek was feeling better and she took the opportunity to apologise to him for Trunks' rambunctious behaviour. He'd been surprisingly good about the whole thing and brushed it off as nothing for her to worry about as, kids will be kids. He also was really understanding about how this may be a very confusing time for Trunks and to just let him come around on his own.

The week passed by quickly. Bulma didn't see much of Vegeta again this week; only in passing if she happened to be around when Trunks was awake and he hadn't said much. She had managed to ask him if he was still thinking of taking Trunks away on a camping trip and he had only grunted and that was all she'd gotten out of him.

Friday evening finally rolled around and Bulma was getting ready to leave. She hadn't exactly avoided Derek all week, but she had taken a few steps back and spent less time with him in order to revaluate what she should do. It was also a chance to make sure she was available so that Vegeta would hopefully notice and come talk to her after he'd had a few days to think about things himself.

He didn't.

So she decided she would continue seeing Derek. Now that Vegeta knew about them, she felt more comfortable being open about it and maybe that would spur him into action and make him figure out what he really wanted. He hadn't brought up anything or made any effort to prove it since their conversation on Sunday night, but she knew he wanted her. His indecision and way that he'd looked at her had told her so. _So what is he waiting for? I'm not getting any younger!_

She approached Derek once he had gotten off a call he had been on for a long while. She wasn't sure who he was on with, but he seemed frustrated, which was very unlike him.

"You alright?" she asked cautiously. "What was that all about?"

Derek sighed and looked at her a moment. "You don't want to know,"

"Sure I do!" she said, closing his door and sitting down.

He seemed to think about it a moment before starting. "You know that huge deal with Mr. Akira we did some time back?"

"Of course!"

"Well apparently, he's gone and fired most of his employees and replaced them all with our bots wherever necessary," he said rather uncomfortably. "Good for us, bad for his employees and now a bunch of them have gone to the one of the local news outlets and they are running a story about it and trust me, it really doesn't make us look good."

"So, who were you talking to then?" she asked with a slight frown. "An irate ex-employee?"

"No, the reporter covering the story," he replied. "Apparently a bunch of them are going to get together and start picketing and protesting in front of the building here on Monday,"

"Why Monday?"

"So they can get together all the other people in West City who have lost their jobs because of us."

"Good lord," she groaned. "Why don't they protest in front of their former work places who let them go? It sucks, but it's not our fault their employees replaced them with bots. What are we supposed to do? Stop building and selling a superior product?"

"I don't know," he shook his head.

"Wait, how long have you known about this?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

"A few days," he shrugged and she shot him a dirty look. "Look, I was trying to figure out an angle so as to avoid this so it wouldn't come down on you,"

"It's _my_ company," she hissed. "That means it's _my_ job to deal with any heat. Especially a PR nightmare like this!"

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry," he said, putting his hands up. "I thought I was helping is all. You seemed a little stressed out this week, you've hardly spoken to me so I thought I was being considerate. I am a manager here too, remember? That shouldn't all fall on you,"

"Yeah, but still," she shook her head. "Unbelievable! So what do they _want_?"

"I still don't know and the reporter wouldn't say. I guess we will find out on Monday,"

"Alright, well, I'll let my dad know. He's good at putting out fires and handling these things diplomatically," she said, standing up. "By the way, I was wondering if you wanted to come over Saturday evening?"

"To your place?" he asked in surprise.

"Sure, why not?" she asked with a smile.

"I just thought you wanted us to be super low key because of your son is all," he answered.

"Well, I do, but seeing as you met him, what's the point?" she sighed. "It happened a bit earlier than I wanted it to, but that's the way it goes."

"True, sure!" he smiled.

"I don't even know if Trunks and Vegeta will be around this weekend or not," she said quickly, not wanting him to feel pressured to hang out with Trunks. "Vegeta mentioned wanting to take Trunks on a father/son camping trip or something. I don't know if he's planned anything yet, so they may or may not be home."

"That's ok," he shrugged. "Whatever you want to do,"

"Alright," she smiled. "We can figure it out after work tomorrow."

"Sounds good to me!" he smiled at her, getting up to open his office door for her, but leaned in to kiss her lightly on the cheek.

Bulma kissed him back and gave him a quick one-armed hug before leaving the office for the day. It was early enough that Trunks should still have been up and she could spend some time with him before bed and hopefully Vegeta was around so she could find a way to casually and _accidentally_ let him know that Derek would be coming over tomorrow night after work.

She thought about that as she drove home with a slight smirk settling on her face as she wondered how he would react to that. What would he do if she decided to let Derek spend the night? She was ready for that, she decided. In two weeks, it would be their three month anniversary.

_Fuck it, we'll see where the night takes us,_ she told herself and decided not to stress out about it. While Vegeta had seemed like he'd wanted to kiss her, he'd also told her he _didn't give a fuck_ what she did either.

_Maybe it's time to take that theory and put it to the test,_ she decided as she replayed hers and Vegeta's conversation from Sunday night back in her mind. _There was the old saying, what was it? The lady does protest too much_.

-0-0-0-

Work on Saturday went by quickly for both Bulma and Derek, as they had spent most of their day trying to figure out how to handle these potential protesters. Bulma's father was away doing business for a few days and wouldn't be back until mid-week, something her mother didn't feel the need to share with her until she was grabbing breakfast on her way out. It was unusual for them to not travel together so it had never occurred to her that her father may have been away in the first place.

She decided to leave him be at least until Monday afternoon before the six o'clock news broadcast happened. In the meantime, she and Derek and Naz, the general sales manager, worked together trying to come up with a decent statement that would be both sensitive to the issue but also remind the public that they weren't responsible for business owners and how they ran their businesses.

"This is my fault," Derek sighed in frustration as they received their drink order from the lounge they had decided to hit before heading to Bulma's place for the night. They both agreed that they needed a few drinks to unwind before forgetting about work and having a pleasant evening together.

"Why is it your fault?" Bulma asked, sipping her drink.

"Because they were only interested in vehicles for their employees when they came in for that meeting," he explained. "I'm the one that got caught up in the moment of wanting to close a killer deal and didn't even consider the bigger picture and what it would mean for them to get the maintenance bots."

"That's what makes you a great sales person, Derek," she sighed. "I guarantee you that anyone else on our sales floor would have done the exact same thing in your shoes."

"You wouldn't have," he countered.

"Because I'm _not_ a sales person,"

"And maybe that's a good thing," he pointed out.

"Yes and no," she shrugged. "At the end of the day how could you have known Mr. Akira would fire all his landscapers and whoever else because he'd replaced them _all_ with bots?"

"I guess you're right, but I should have thought about that before going into another sales pitch when all you'd asked me to do was go over all the information you'd already provided them with," he said glumly, looking at her drink.

"I know, it's half empty already," she rolled her eyes. "Don't judge me, I'm thirsty,"

"So you see it as half empty?" he asked in an amused tone. "I would have thought you were the glass is half full type of girl,"

"Usually," she shrugged. "Why, which one are you?"

Derek smirked and replied "Can I interest you in some ice? Putting ice in your drink will make it appear full again,"

"Very funny," she snorted. "See? You're a sales guy. That's _totally_ sales mentality right there and you know what?"

"What?"

"I wish this drink was chilled, so if you were selling ice, you'd have made a sale right there," she giggled.

"Supply and demand,"

"Exactly," she nodded. "Don't worry about it,"

"I'll try not to,"

"Let's just have some drinks and good food and then head back to my place," she suggested. "We can watch a movie and just… go from there and see what happens," she said boldly, telling herself that she was ready to take things further and putting it out there like she just did, was the only way she'd quit procrastinating and actually start getting over Vegeta and living her life.

"Alright," he agreed. "No more business talk,"

"Nope," she shook her head. "None,"

"So did Trunks go on a trip with his dad?" Derek asked, closing his menu. He'd decided what he was ordering.

"No," she shook her head. "I don't think so, anyway. Neither of them mentioned it to me so they're probably both at home; if that's okay?"

"Oh no, that's fine," Derek replied. "I'd like to see Trunks again, he's a really cool kid. Really mature for his age,"

"Yea, I know," she sighed. "Vegeta's parents were really… strict from what I know and so he grew up really fast and so he's adamant about not treating Trunks like a baby who can't do anything for himself. He wants him to be independent and to be able to think and do things for himself."

"Well he certainly is well spoken and well-mannered for his age,"

"Thanks," Bulma replied thoughtfully. "He gets that from his father. I work too much so I don't see him as much as I'd like so he spends way more time with Vegeta than with me once I started with the sales department. It's a blessing in disguise, really,"

"Why?"

"Because my parents and I spoiled him rotten," she snickered. "Vegeta doesn't have the patience for that so he whipped him into shape within a week or two I think it was and I know that sounds terrible, but honestly we went from having a terrorist three year old in the house to a well-mannered, polite, little boy that isn't terrible to have around,"

"What did he do?" Derek snorted in amusement. "Sounds like he's a bit of a drill Sargent,"

"Oh, I'm pretty sure he is," she nodded, pausing as the waitress took their food orders. "He wasn't mean or cruel to him, just set boundaries and rules and actually enforced them and made Trunks work for the things he wanted instead of just giving into him whenever he had a tantrum and Trunks loves his father so much it's like he wants to impress him and not disappoint him so he does it. He hasn't had a single temper tantrum since Vegeta took over watching over him and believe me, Trunks gave a whole new meaning to the term _terrible two's_ and _frickin three's."_

They finished their dinner and headed over to Bulma's place. It was late enough, however that Trunks was already in bed and the house was quiet so they went upstairs.

Bulma locked her bedroom door to make sure no one came into her bedroom.

" _This_ is your bedroom?" Derek asked in awe. "It's like the size of my entire apartment."

She chuckled.

He took her hand and pulled her towards him and kissed her.

Her heart pounded in both nervousness and anticipation. It had been so long since she'd done this and the last time was with Vegeta.

_Vegeta,_ she thought as she kissed Derek back. Was she really ready to permanently shut that door? She wondered if he was even around. She hoped he was and she hoped he heard everything she was doing so that he knew _exactly_ what he was missing out on. She knew she was being childish but she didn't care. She had enough alcohol flowing through her system that she had zero inhibitions and etiquette was low on her priority list. And with that, her mind was made up.

"Let's go outside," she said, taking his hand and walking towards her balcony. "Wait here," she skipped out onto her balcony to look around and came back in. "I had to make sure Vegeta wasn't out there,"

"Why would he be hanging out on your bedroom balcony?" Derek asked with a frown.

"Who knows?" she snorted. "He likes to brood out there sometimes. It's Vegeta, he's weird. Go out there and I'll get us drinks."

"Right," he commented, a little bit floored that firstly she had walked out onto her balcony to look for her ex and secondly that it seemed as though it wouldn't have bothered her if he had been there. He shook his head nonetheless and went out there to wait for her.

The view out there was simply stunning and offered a lot more privacy than he would have thought. They were so high up and none of the nearby buildings were nearly as tall. For someone to see them they would have to be in a helicopter or a plane.

Bulma appeared a moment later, offering him a glass and poured him a glass, then one for herself and put the bottle down.

She took a long sip and leaned on the balcony next to him. She was nervous and all she could think of was all the conversations she and Vegeta had had out here.

Their first, real _actual_ conversation had happened here; he had come up to comfort her after she had come home crying after her date with Yamcha had gone bad and they had broken up. It had also been the first time they had kissed; she had kissed him on his cheek, her way of thanking him for his kindness and consideration that evening. He had surprised her by taking her chin and kissing her on the mouth. Alright, he had panicked and fled a moment later before anything went further but _he_ had kissed _her_.

Then a few months later she had come home drunk from a launch function. Drunk and angry with Yamcha for showing up with the same girl he had cheated on her with. She had left after her speech, drank all the way home in the limo and then made Vegeta come up here so she could continue her self-pitying and drinking. She still couldn't remember that night clearly but she remembered taking her clothes off in front of him and them having a very intense make out session in her underwear on the balcony before he left again, leaving her wanting much more.

A few weeks later they had actually hooked up and broke up; all within a forty eight hour time span. She had discovered her pregnancy and it was on this balcony he had come to her to let her know he was leaving to train in space despite knowing she was pregnant.

She remembered that he was wearing the armour she had made for him and he'd looked so good in the moonlight as he informed her he was leaving her. It had been a civil conversation, all things considered.

Then the night before the Andriods had appeared, he had come to her up here. He had taken her away to show her his transformation. Then they'd fought when he brought her back about her wanting to go to the battlefield.

And now here they were. So many _meaningful_ moments between them had happened out here on this balcony and she was regretting bringing Derek up here.

Bulma downed her glass of wine and reached for the bottle to give herself a refill. It was time to quit hanging on to the past and start looking forward.

She turned and smiled at Derek. Tonight was going to be great. She _needed_ this. It had been so long since she had been intimate with someone that she decided then and there that the best cure for her to begin forgetting about Vegeta was to hop in with someone else. After all, they had been dating for nearly three months already and she wasn't exactly putting him off. The poor guy had been patient and very respectful of her wishes to take things slow.

"You alright?" he asked her, sensing her indecision.

"I'm fine," she smiled. "Just a bit tipsy and a bit nervous because I really like you but it's been ages since I hooked up with anyone so I'm… ya…"

He chuckled at her. "We don't have to do anything you don't want to do. We can call it a night,"

"No, I do," she insisted, closing the gap between them and kissing him.

Surprised by her sudden boldness, he kissed her back thoroughly. The last few weeks she had been driving him crazy thinking they were finally going to take things further and then they didn't. He really liked her, so he let her take the lead in the pace of their relationship.

"Let's go inside," she said suddenly, taking his hand and leading him back into her bedroom, leaving her balcony door wide open.

She brought her arms around his neck and kissed him again, trying to work off his shirt.

Within a few short moments they were both unclothed and making out on her bed.

"You don't want to shut that door?" he asked her, his mouth on her neck.

"Nah, it's fine," she sighed. She didn't care if anyone heard them. She _hoped_ they would be heard by a certain spikey-haired house guest.

She moaned louder than necessary as he entered her. "Did I hurt you?" he asked.

"No," she replied, moving her body against him, wanting to get going already, she needed to reach fulfilment and didn't realize how badly she wanted that release until this moment.

As they fell into a rhythm, Bulma was very vocal and it made Derek feel like he could do no wrong. It was as though their bodies were made for one another. While he hadn't been with a ton of girls, usually there was a bit of a learning curve the first few times to figure out how each other's bodies responded. Bulma was very easy to please, apparently, or so he assumed with the way she responded to him.

Bulma, on the other hand, wasn't necessarily _unsatisfied_ by Derek, but she wasn't giving him a fair chance and she knew that, she thought guiltily. Here she had a brilliant, smart, dashingly handsome guy practically worshipping her body and all she could think about was Vegeta and if he was around to hear the supposedly amazing sex she was having right now.

"Fuck me," she cried out.

Derek chuckled at her, amused by the fact that her usual proper demeanour had been completely cast aside and replaced by a foul mouthed minx. He had suspected that beneath her professional and cool exterior that between the sheets she was a bit of a nympho, which was fine by him.

"Alright then," he said moving his upper torso off of her and leaning away while still buried inside of her. He grabbed both of her legs and brought them together; he crossed her ankles and slung them both over his right shoulder and proceeded to thrust into her harder than before.

"Oh god!" she screamed and meant it that time as he slowly moved into her at a much harder pace.

It didn't take long after that and Derek finished. Bulma didn't, but she was the only one who knew that. As far as Derek thought, she had come at least twice.

As he pulled out of her and settled in, he reached for her to hold her but she shrugged him off. "It's too hot," she said, kissing him deeply so he would not feel like she was completely giving him the brushoff when in actuality she was only feeling extremely guilty.

She had faked nearly all of it and it bothered her. She hadn't even given the guy a chance to see if they were compatible between the sheets and her not finishing was all in her head and nothing to do with him; she knew that. She lay there thinking about it for a long time until she heard Derek beginning to snore lightly.

As soon as she knew that he was definitely asleep, she crawled out of bed and went to her balcony, carefully and quietly sliding the door shut behind her.

She walked to the side where she had begun stashing a pack of smokes and began rifling through the basket in search of one. She needed it.

She began to feel frustrated as she couldn't seem to find them. She knew she'd hidden them well so her mother wouldn't happen to find them on the odd time she decided to straighten out her room, but she hadn't thought she'd hidden them quite _that_ well.

"Shit," she cursed to herself.

"Looking for these?" a deep, smooth as velvet voice that she would have recognized anywhere asked behind her.

She turned around to look at him and saw him dangling her box of smokes mockingly at her.

Bulma scowled at him and aggressively snatched them from his hand. "Give me those," she grumbled under her breath, opening the pack and taking one out. She'd stashed the lighter inside the box as well.

"When did you start with this?" he asked, nodding once in her direction.

Bulma shrugged. "A little while ago,"

"I hear those disgusting things will kill you,"

"That's why they call it the cancer stick," she replied sarcastically, taking a decent drag from her cigarette. "I don't smoke a lot, just casually every now and again."

"Hmmn," he grunted and she knew he didn't approve. "Like after expending so much effort into an unsatisfying lay like you just did?"

Bulma glared at him wide eyed in embarrassment, unable to form a sentence for a moment before she caught herself. "Shows how much you know," she replied trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. Now that she had sobered up completely and knew for sure that Vegeta would have heard, she felt embarrassed. "One normally smokes a cigarette _after_ an extremely satisfying lay."

Vegeta smirked and chuckled at her. "So was all the noise and cursing and shrieking for his benefit to make him feel adequate or was it for mine in a sad attempt to make me jealous?"

_Shit!_ She cursed inwardly. "I haven't a clue what you're talking about, Vegeta," she sighed. "But if your new favourite past time is sneaking around and listening in while I'm hooking up with someone, that's low and creepy even for you. You should really look into finding a new hobby."

"Says the woman who purposely leaves her doors and windows wide open so I'm sure anyone still on this compound and living in the vicinity within a ten block radius could hear you carrying on whether they wanted to or not," he said accusingly, not hiding his disgust at her lack of propriety.

"Don't judge me!" she snapped. "Go off somewhere and blow something up on some obscure island that won't be missed or go fly laps around the planet. You have options, you don't have to stay here. Who I fuck and when and how loud I am while I'm being fucked isn't any of your concern."

"It is my concern when I live next to your damned room and am disturbed by your exploits and need I remind you that you have a son not far from your room who is at risk of hearing you?"

"Like you give a shit about Trunks," she scoffed; though she did feel a pang of guilt and embarrassment at the thought that she may have subjected Trunks to that. It hadn't even crossed her mind. Her only objective had been to hopefully get off this evening and attempt to piss Vegeta off. Unfortunately she hadn't accomplished either. Vegeta was annoyed, but not for the reasons she had wanted him to be.

Her comment stung and he didn't reply for a long moment, choosing not to confirm or deny her allegation that he didn't care for Trunks. "All the same, you should be more mindful of him and quit acting like a hormonally crazed adolescent; you're better than that. Show some class."

As much as she hated to admit it, he was right and she did feel ashamed of herself and her conduct. "It won't happen again," she said quietly and put out the rest of her cigarette.

Vegeta grunted and said nothing more. A part of him wanted to throw her over his shoulder and take her back to his room to finish what that subpar human hadn't been able to do. It had been years since they had been together intimately, but he was sure he remembered everything about her body that drove her wild.

"How did you know?" she asked suddenly, taking him out of his thoughts and leaning against the railing on her balcony next to him.

"Know what?"

"That I was kind of faking it a little?" she clarified and she was thankful it was dark outside because she could feel her face burning from embarrassment, but she really wanted to know how he knew.

" _Kind_ _of_ _a_ _little_?" he snorted, crossing his arms and looking down his nose at her. "Please, you may be the only woman I have bedded but even _I_ can tell the difference between what is real and what is fake."

Bulma simply nodded and didn't say anything. What could she say? What she wanted to say was something insulting to him to ease her embarrassment but knew that he would see right through her and call her out on it. Vegeta had been the best sex she'd ever had, despite his inexperience. She didn't want to tell him that though and give his ego another needless reason to become more inflated than it already was.

"I'm the best you've ever had," he said boldly to her as though he had been able to read her exact thoughts at that very moment. He placed his hands on either side of her in front of the railing, effectively trapping her there. While he was very conscientious to make sure their bodies weren't actually physically touching, they could both feel the other and she had to consciously resist not leaning back into him but it was hard. It was like he was a magnet and her body wanted nothing more than to cling to him.

"Don't flatter yourself," she snorted in reply, though it didn't come off as convincingly as she would have liked.

"It's _true_ ," he insisted quietly, leaning in just enough that he was nearly a hairs width away from her and she could feel his body heat even more through her thin, silk robe.

Just that small gesture caused her to shudder in her need for him and the memory of how it had felt to have his body on top of hers, moving flawlessly with her own in a perfect rhythm as they both strove to bring the other to completion.

He resisted the urge to touch her and smirked triumphantly as he could smell the arousal just radiating off of her and took great satisfaction in that. However it was beginning to affect him a lot more than he wanted to admit and he certainly did not want her to know.

Bulma took a deep breath, trying to calm her heart rate; she knew he'd have already noticed and would have taken note of that natural reaction among other biological changes she could feel coming alive within her that she had absolutely no control over. _Damn him,_ she cursed. _Damn him to hell!_

"You know what, Vegeta," she addressed him calmly trying to keep her breathing normal.

"Hmmm," he responded, lightly skimming his nose up the length of her neck. It was the only physical contact he would allow.

"It's been so long since we were together last, that I can't even remember if you were the best or not,"

"Hmmmn, _liar_ ," he hissed into her ear in amusement. While very tempting, it was going to take a lot more than that for him to take her up on anything. He wasn't that weak where she was concerned.

"It's true," she insisted.

Vegeta remained silent, unsure of what to say to her. Everything about her was screaming at him to touch her, to finally take her. It would be so easy! He took another deep breath to take in her enticing scent but it was mixed with the scent of the other man still on her skin. It had always been there, but at the moment of his weakness it was a stark reminder that he was treading in very dangerous waters with her and served as effective as a bucket of cold water.

"Maybe I'll have to remedy that some other time," he finally said to her. "When you don't have the stink of another male all over you," he added, stepping abruptly away from her.

Bulma whirled around to face him only to find him gone altogether. "Bastard!" she hissed in frustration. She dwelled on what had just taken place for a moment as she lit a second cigarette. _God it wasn't fair how he can just evoke those feelings within me with little to no effort,_ she lamented to herself. _Especially after all this time!_

She finished her cigarette before heading back into her bedroom, being sure to shut and lock her balcony door this time before very carefully crawling back into bed so as not to disturb the other occupant.

As she lay there, all she could think of was Vegeta. His hands, his mouth, the feeling of his arms wrapped around her, holding her close; even the way he smelled. She _had_ lied to him outside on the balcony when she'd told him that she couldn't remember the specifics of their affair. She remembered everything; she remembered it so vividly that it was almost a cruel form of torture and no matter how much she despised him sometimes, she knew she would do just about anything to experience something like that again with him.

She couldn't remember at which point she had begun touching herself as she thought and reminisced about Vegeta but she hadn't consciously realized she was until a soft moan escaped from her lips. _Shit,_ she thought to herself, freezing and hoping she hadn't woken up her partner.

No such luck.

"Are you doing what I think you're doing?" Derek asked, his voice laced with amusement rather than offense.

"Sorry," she sighed, not sure if she should feel mortified or sorry for not even caring at all. She truly had no idea what to feel at the moment. The moment that had just taken place between her and Vegeta had been the most meaningful and encouraging exchange in _years._ While she didn't want to read too much into it and get hurt all over again, she didn't want to just brush it off as nothing just in case there was the possibility of something happening between them again. "I'm, I just.. It's not that you weren't good, I just-"

"Want more," he said, rolling over to look at her.

"I, I don't know what to say," she said with a sigh, feeling beyond mortified by this point.

"It's alright, I think it's kind of hot actually," he said, cupping her between her legs. "I love a woman who loves sex and isn't ashamed of it."

She snorted in amusement. _Oh, if you only knew the real reason,_ she thought guiltily to herself.

"Can I help you or is this strictly a solo mission?" he asked, lightly nipping her shoulder.

She was so turned on from her discussion and interaction with Vegeta, she would have accepted an invitation from just about anyone. In response, Bulma kissed him and reached for him, encouraging him to crawl on top of her.

He entered her without hesitation.

-0-0-0-

Vegeta growled in annoyance as he could hear the muffled sounds of their coupling trough the walls.

_At least she's being quiet about it this time,_ he thought to himself as he lay in his bed on his back with his forearm across his eyes.

He suddenly smirked to himself in satisfaction at the knowledge that he _knew_ she was thinking of him as that other male fucked her. While a part of him wished it was him doing the honours, another part of him figured it was just as well. Getting involved intimately with her again was just asking for trouble.

However his groin seemed to disagree as he felt himself grow hard again as he thought of Bulma in the throes of passion and it finally occurred to him that it annoyed him that she had taken this man to her bed; and it didn't annoy him a bit. It annoyed him a whole lot.

He heard her cry out then and he knew that this time she wasn't faking it.

Vegeta threw back the covers and plodded into his washroom to turn on the shower without waiting for the water to warm up and began to relieve himself as he thought of a certain blue-haired woman and for the first time in a long time, wished that she was his.

_Nonsense,_ he chastised himself harshly. _You only feel that way because you caught a whiff of her arousal. Nothing more._

As he pumped at his manhood he recalled that time she had given him oral sex when they had showered together that one time. Oh, now that had been an experience unlike any other. The feeling of her warm, wet mouth sucking on him had nearly had him spent after only a few moments. It had been so unexpected and he had been baffled at her willingness to pleasure him in that way. What had made him finish so quickly was when she had begun touching herself while still pleasuring him orally.

He gasped as he felt his release come quickly at the thought of her doing that to him again.

Vegeta leaned into the tile wall and rested his forehead on his forearm as he slowly pumped his member in an effort to prolong his climax. It had been a long time since he had felt the need to relieve himself in this way, he thought in shame and disgust at his own weakness. _It is all the woman's fault,_ he told himself as he relaxed and began washing himself.

He had no clue what to do where she was concerned. She had somehow pulled him out of whatever self-loathing funk he had been in. He wasn't sure how she had done it, but she had and now that he was beginning to get used to the idea of staying here permanently and perhaps building a life with her and the boy, she had found another male to occupy her time and attentions and now that male was using her body in such a way he felt should have been reserved for him and him alone. _Mates do not fuck around with others,_ he told himself before realizing what he had just put together.

_Mate._ That was how he viewed Bulma he realized then and there with an astute clarity and horror mixed together.

_What do I do now,_ he wondered. If tonight was any indication, he figured she was very much still interested in him but was it strictly for physical reasons or was she sincere?

Last time things had begun moving far too fast for him and he had bolted. She had confessed to having far deeper feelings for him than what he had for her; even now, he could admit that he had grown to care for her and the boy on some level but it wasn't to the degree that she had claimed to feel for him and he wasn't even sure if he was capable of ever reciprocating those feelings to that level even if he did stay and work at a cooperative union with her.

He had bitten her last time as well, something one only did with someone whom they mean to mark as theirs. He hadn't realized until now the full significance of it that even back then he had felt strongly towards her. _Yes, but she rejected it,_ he reminded himself bitterly. He had bitten her mid hook up while lost in the moment and she had gotten upset with him. It never had occurred to him that she misunderstood the meaning and depth of the action, he had simply left from embarrassment that he had been so stupid as to have allowed himself to lose his mind and nearly take a weak human female as his mate and life partner.

Until recently, he had been thanking his lucky stars that the biting had put her off. Unfortunately she had already obviously conceived the boy; unknowingly to both of them at the time and so here they were; living in this confused mess that was almost as ridiculous as those idiotic afternoon programs her mother liked to watch obsessively.

Vegeta knew nothing about seducing women but he did know a thing or two about playing on another male's possible insecurities. He may be a recluse and not know what the current trend on this planet was as far as what women wanted in a man, but he knew that he was most definitely a sight to behold and that Bulma was drawn to him still on a physical level.

Maybe it was time for him to make an appearance and meet this clown she had been out gallivanting with? Tomorrow morning he would do just that, he decided.

Washed and clean, he shut the water off and went back to his own bed, hoping he would fall asleep easily now that he was sated. While definitely not as satisfying, it was good enough.

0-0-0

The next morning, Bulma got up a bit earlier than she thought she would. She hasn't slept all that well. She kept waking up and thinking about Vegeta.

Derek was still fast asleep she noticed and smiled at him. _What are you going to do about him,_ she asked herself. Sure he was nice and definitely handsome, he was smart, he treated her really well and they had a great time together but she knew ultimately it would never work. If Vegeta had never entered the picture, maybe it would have. Not only was he everything she would have wanted, her parents would have approved and while that wasn't a deal breaker in her mind, it still did mean a lot to her.

She sighed as she carefully got out of bed and headed out to her balcony again to think about this dilemma. _Of course,_ she groaned. There was Vegeta, shirtless in nothing more than sneakers and those tight training shorts that left nothing to the imagination, meditating and doing katas in the yard and looking nothing less than a Greek god. Next to him was Trunks, though he was in his dark teal gi that had been given to him as a birthday gift from Chi-Chi and Goten. Trunks loved it so much he always wore it for training despite the fact that it annoyed his father to no end.

She watched her son in pride as he carefully mirrored his father's movements absolutely perfectly.

While she was more than a little confused about what to do about hers and Vegeta's relationship, this was a reminder to her of how far they had come leaving things strictly platonic between them. It was so good for Trunks that she didn't want to do anything to ruin that.

"Hey, there you are," Derek said sleepily, coming outside.

"Hey," she turned around, startled, walking towards him wanting to head back inside so he wouldn't see the display out in her yard.

"It's nice out," he said, taking her hand and walking towards the rail of her balcony. "Oh wow," he commented as he saw Vegeta and Trunks work through their morning routine.

"Yea,"

"Is that Trunks' father?"

"Yea," she sighed.

"Wow," he commented.

"Yea,"

"Do they do this every morning?" he asked.

"Most mornings, yes," she nodded. "Vegeta does. Trunks tries to if he gets up early enough."

"What happens if he doesn't get up early enough?"

"Then he doesn't get to train with his father," she replied only now realizing how ridiculous that sounded. "He needs to be on time or not bother coming at all."

"So what are they training for?"

"Nothing," she shrugged. "Vegeta is always training. It's what he does."

"So he's like a body builder?" he asked in confusion.

"Oh, no," she shook her head quickly, chuckling. "No, ha! Vegeta would have a fit if he heard you say that. He trains in mixed martial arts mostly," she wanted to mention that he was in the Cell games but then decided not to. That was not a battle he was proud of and she could just picture him being very displeased should Derek actually speak to him and ask him about it. "If there's ever another Worlds Martial Arts Tournament again, he'll probably enter though. Him and Trunks."

"Do you think he could beat Mr. Satan?" he asked snidely with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, _please_ ," she snorted. "Trunks could take on Mr. Satan and beat him ten times over. Vegeta going up against him would hardly be fair."

"He's that good that you think so, huh?"

"Oh, I know so," she replied confidently.

"Interesting. Does he take on any students ever?"

"Vegeta? Oh, no," she answered quickly. "He only trains alone, unless Trunks joins him. Trust me, you don't want to train with Vegeta."

"I've always had an interest in martial arts myself," he said casually. "The guy looks amazing and obviously knows what he's doing. I'd love to train with someone like him. I'd pay him of course."

"No," she said firmly, taking him by the arm and leading him back inside. "Look, I don't want to talk about Vegeta."

"That's fair, but if he doesn't take on pupils and doesn't compete, what exactly does he _do_ for a living?" he asked in confusion.

Bulma was slightly taken aback by the question and realized she didn't have an answer. "He trains and he helps look after Trunks."

"That's it?" he asked. "Like he doesn't work or contribute in any way?"

"He's present in my son's life and that's all that matters," she snapped, beginning to get annoyed as she started putting her housecoat on. "It's not your concern anyway."

"True, it isn't," he agreed with a frown. "But if this is going somewhere serious between us, then it kind of does concern me,"

"It doesn't," she said firmly, turning to face him. "We had this discussion long before we started seeing each other that Vegeta's place is here for however long he decides to stay. It is not up for debate and whoever I end up with needs to understand and accept that. If you can, great. I really like you and I think we have a lot of fun together but if you can't then I'm sorry. I have to put my son first."

"Alright, but this arrangement you both have here isn't _normal_ ," he insisted. "Don't you care to look at this from my point of view?"

"No, I don't," she shook her head. "Because I warned you that my personal life was complicated. I know this arrangement between Vegeta and I isn't ideal or normal or conventional, I don't need you to point that out to me. But so far it's working out just fine. We both live under the same roof, we are on civil terms and we parent our son together. It may seem strange from the outside to anyone else looking in but I'm thankful for the way things are and I wouldn't have it any other way!"

"You're thankful?"

"Yes, I am. I'm thankful I don't have to fight and argue over visitation and holidays. I'm thankful I never had to get caught up in some vicious and expensive custody court battle. I'm thankful that both of us are mature enough to put our differences aside and raise Trunks together without using him as a weapon to hurt the other. I'm not going to say it's always been easy, it took a long time for us to both be able to put the others past offenses on the back burner and find an equal ground so as to not let Trunks see it but I'm thankful that we are both able to do that."

"And that's very admirable of you both for being able to do that, I respect you, but it's still not normal," he insisted calmly.

"I never implied that my personal life was normal. I told you-"

"You never told me that your ex looked like _that_!"

"Right, so that's what this is about?" she sighed heavily. "That Vegeta looks like walking temptation?"

"Am I wrong?"

"No. How do you think I ended up becoming a single mother?" she asked jokingly. "Yes, Vegeta is the most gorgeous man I have ever laid eyes on but trust me, it gets old real fast."

"Are you still attracted to him?"

"That doesn't matter," she said.

"It does,"

"Look, what happened between us was nothing more than a fling that only lasted a couple of days. We haven't been together in years. The last time we hooked up was _weeks_ before I even found out I was pregnant with Trunks," she told him. "So it doesn't matter if I'm attracted to him or not, nothing is going on between us and nothing more other than raising our son will ever happen again between us because too much history has gone down.

"Too much shit has happened between us for either of us to be able to come back from it. And it's not just him who's done spiteful, hurtful things, I've also done my fair share of things too that I'm not proud of," _like last night for example, what the fuck was that?_ She added mentally, now feeling very ashamed of her own conduct. Since the Cell games, Vegeta had not done anything to go out of his way to hurt her. She on the other hand had been nothing but mean and vindictive towards him, even when she wasn't trying to be, she realized right then. "Vegeta has had a very difficult life up until not long before we met. No, he's not the model citizen or tenant, he will never win father of the year and he isn't always the easiest person to get along with but he's the father of my son and considering his background, I am just thankful every day that he is here. And don't take that to mean that I let him stay here because of his past or because I feel sorry for him. It's not about that. It's about Trunks having his father in his life and that's it, there's nothing more to it than that."

"Alright, sorry," he said, looking strangely at her. He hadn't thought she'd get so upset about this. "I didn't realize how strongly you felt about this."

Bulma blinked a moment as she tried to figure out who she was trying to convince that there was absolutely no chance of rekindling a romantic relationship with Vegeta. "It's alright," she sighed, feeling bad now for going off on him like that. "It just took us both a very long time to get to where we are right now and I won't let anything potentially ruin it. If you want to be with me then this is something that you need to accept and if you decide that this is way more than what you bargained for, then I understand it and won't hold it against you should you decide not to stick around."

Derek nodded, unsure of what to say. "I don't want to fight with you," he said. "I had a fantastic evening with you last night and I don't want to spoil it this morning."

"I did too," she admitted. _Until a certain sexy asshole Saiyan decided to make an appearance and mess with my head,_ she added silently. She was going to rip him a new one later on when Derek was gone and Trunks went to bed.

"The only other thing I want to say in my defence before we change the subject altogether is I really like you, but I've been down this road before. My ex fiancé claimed she was over her ex when we first got together. She said they'd been broken up for over a year and that she was ready to start dating again. Almost four years in and right before we were going to get married, she left me, claiming that she was still in love with an ex she previously insisted she was over," he told her honestly and seriously. "Forgive me for being suspicious and just a little overly paranoid. I'm not the type of guy who is possessive or who would forbid you from talking to other guys or being friends with them but you live with your ex and you share a son. That's major!"

"I understand your concerns, Derek, but honestly, we're done," she said quietly.

"See, and that's what she said," he replied. "Can you guarantee that you would never drop me for him if he expressed a romantic interest in you?"

_No,_ she answered immediately in her mind and she knew right then without a doubt that this was a mistake. She should not have let things with Derek go this far. It wasn't fair to him. "I don't know," she admitted quietly.

Derek nodded in response and she felt terrible from the hurt look he gave her as he stepped away from her. "That's all I needed to know,"

"I'm sorry, Derek," she said, reaching for his hand. "I like you. I like you a _lot_ actually. I think if maybe we had met before I had Trunks or met Vegeta that we'd have been perfect for each other but,"

"It's alright, I know," he smiled at her. "You have a whole lot of history there, you both share a son and it would be selfish of me to expect you to forget that. You have a decent solution figured out between you two that no, I don't understand, but I respect it. Maybe you both will find your way back to each other and if that were to happen I couldn't expect you to not take it but at the same time, I can't put myself in a position to be hurt if you aren't sure now and in a few years you go back to him. I can't go through that again."

"I know, I'm sorry, Derek," she said. "When we kind of started seeing each other I thought I was ready to move on, I _did_. I didn't mean to play you or lead you on."

"I know you didn't," he said good naturedly, getting dressed. "You warned me over and over again that us seeing each other wasn't a good idea. It's not completely your fault. Can we still be friends?"

"Absolutely," she smiled. "I hope so, anyway. I like working with you and I don't want it to be awkward at work."

"Oh, it's going to be awkward," he chuckled. "But I wouldn't change it for the world."

"Well at least stay for some breakfast?" she offered. "My mom usually makes a killer breakfast on Sunday mornings with steak and eggs and waffles, homemade hash browns, everything."

"No, that sounds amazing, but I think I'll pass on that today," he said. The thought of having breakfast with the father of Bulma's son after having spent the night with her wasn't an experience he wanted.

"Alright," she nodded. She understood that he would probably think it too awkward to stay for breakfast but she didn't want him to feel like she was kicking him out and he needed to be doing the walk of shame.

They both dressed quickly and quietly and as the moment dragged they both began to feel more and more awkward.

When he was finished getting dressed, Derek smiled at her. "I'll see you at work tomorrow," he said.

"Absolutely!" she smiled back even though she felt terrible right now. "Hey, I'm so sorry-"

"Don't be," he said walking up to her and cupping her cheek. "At least we figured this out now and not several months or a few years in."

"True," she nodded. The fact that Derek was being so nice about the whole thing making her feel even worse than she already did.

With that he left through the front door. As he walked towards his car parked on the street, he managed to catch sight of Vegeta as Trunks was running into the house, presumably for breakfast and the two men made eye contact.

The stern look he got from Vegeta told him that the other man was very well aware of what had happened last night and he couldn't help but run his hand across the back of his neck as he swore he felt his hair stand on end. Before he looked away, Vegeta smirked at him in what looked like distain before walking away and into the house after his son.

Derek stood there a moment, watching Vegeta leave. The man carried himself with such confidence and walked like he owned the place. He couldn't help but feel a measure of resentment build towards him as he realized that Vegeta had staged this whole thing. It was as though he'd known that if he'd gotten up bright and early to work out that the other man would pick a fight with Bulma because of his own foolish insecurities; even if those insecurities were solely based on physical appearance.

While Derek was far from insecure and he had a better than average body thanks to his gym trainer and following a healthy diet, one look at Vegeta and he had _felt_ like he was mediocre at best. The man had the body of a god and was pure perfection from what he could see and he could hardly blame Bulma for being attracted to him even after a shady history between them.

He chuckled and shook his head as he walked up to his car and unlocked it. "Well played, sir, well played," he said to himself as he got in. There was a reason that up until now he had not seen or caught a glimpse of this elusive baby daddy of Bulma's. She had even mentioned on a few occasions that Vegeta was only seen when he _wanted_ to be seen. Well, this morning he had obviously wanted to be seen and it wasn't until now that he realized he had done _exactly_ what the other man had anticipated. He had seen him and had felt threatened by his flawless physique.

Derek got into his car and left the compound feeling like he'd made a huge mistake in ending it with Bulma but not knowing what else to do in this complicated situation.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Chapter 9** _

Breakfast passed by awkwardly for everyone except for Mrs. Briefs, who seemed to be completely oblivious that Bulma had even had a house guest spend the night with her.

Trunks was unusually quiet too. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but his mom smelled weird and the tension going on between his parents was undeniable.

It wouldn't be the first time he noticed that there was something going on between them. There were times he knew they were mad at each other; they never fought in front of him but he always could tell when something was a miss there. This was different though. They weren't mad at each other from what he could tell, but Bulma was definitely avoiding eye contact with his father he noticed and he wondered why.

"Can we go to the park today?" he asked cautiously, breaking the awkward silence.

"Sure, sweetie," Bulma replied with a strained smile.

"Will you come too?" he asked Vegeta.

Vegeta shrugged. "I suppose,"

Trunks sighed in relief. _So they aren't mad at each other,_ he thought to himself.

Bulma stopped eating and gave Vegeta the _look_. She wasn't stupid. She _knew_ he had made a point of being seen this morning half naked by Derek. Vegeta gave her a brief smirk between mouthfuls, confirming her suspicions.

Not wanting to get into a dialogue over it in front of Trunks, she refilled her coffee and left the table.

"You should have a shower and then we will go," Vegeta said after her, amusement in his tone. While he acted like he didn't care that she had spent the night with another male, the smell of him all over her was nearly driving him insane the longer she sat in his presence. He was beginning to feel an emotion he wasn't quite able to identify.

The more he dwelled on it the more he was wishing he hadn't just let the other male walk out and leave in one piece. Especially after hearing _most_ of their argument from her bedroom. The balcony doors had been left open and he had still been able to hear them discussing him. Probably the only reason he had not escorted him off forcefully was because he had overheard the way Bulma had valiantly defended him, not allowing the other male to make negative comments about his presence there. She had told him that this was just as much Vegeta's home as it was hers and the new male had no opinion on the matter. In his mind that meant he'd won and there was no further need to involve himself.

_Fuck you,_ she had wanted to say to Vegeta in reply. It was on tip of her tongue and stinging her lips she wanted to retort so bad, but she refrained for Trunks sake. Plus she knew better than to use that kind of language in front of her mother as well.

As she made her way upstairs, she stubbornly decided she wouldn't shower just on principal. Before Vegeta's comment she'd had every intention of showering but now she wouldn't. She knew he had a sensitive sense of smell, it still weirded her out some days and annoyed her that he had these extra heightened senses.

It was early afternoon before everyone got together to head to the park for the afternoon. Vegeta glared at and spoke very little to her, but she acted sweet as pie to him, knowing that would only piss him off further. Mentally she had a bet going on as to whether or not he'd bail with her still smelling like Derek from last night.

In the end, he had decided to bear it and accompany Bulma and Trunks. If he left, like he wanted to, then she would win. He knew she had specifically not showered just to spite him but instead of being annoyed by her, he found himself amused.

"You positively reek," he growled at her once Trunks had taken off towards the playground and was out of earshot.

" _You_ put yourself on display this morning on _purpose_ ," she hissed accusingly. "So deal with it."

"I work out _every_ morning," he snorted.

"Nearly naked, only covering up the bare essentials? I don't think so,"

"It was exceptionally hot this morning," he argued.

"It was _not_ ," she replied. "Just admit it, you were jealous."

Vegeta chuckled darkly. "Jealous of what?"

"Of the fact that I found someone else," she said. "Though thanks to you and that little exhibition you put on this morning, that's all over now."

Vegeta shrugged, feigning indifference, though some part of him was glad to hear her confirm his suspicions that the other male had lost interest. While it had been his intent, he was a little surprised it had been _that_ easy.

_Good,_ he mused to himself. _Things can go back to the way they were._

"So now that I'm _unattached,_ what are you going to do about it?" she asked boldly.

"What do you mean?" he frowned. She wasn't going to be seeing or fucking around with anyone else now, so what was she getting at? He was content for things to go back the way they were before things got awkward between them; however could they remain that way? He admitted to himself recently that a part of him did want her. Except how did he go about _getting_ her?

"What I mean is, _what do you want, Vegeta?"_

He didn't have an answer. She had been asking him that a lot recently and it was starting to annoy him because he _didn't know._ He wanted her and he wanted to be a part of Trunks' life but he didn't know what would be expected of him then. He still wanted the freedom to come and go as he pleased. Would that come to an end?

"Whatever," she sighed in annoyance at his non answer. "I'm tired of chasing you and hoping for something that will never happen and then when I do try to move on, you fuck it up for me.

"So what's the deal, Vegeta? Do you want me? Because apparently you don't want anyone else to," she asked boldly, turning to look at him. "If you don't, then please just leave me alone, unless it has something to do with Trunks, I don't want anything to do with you."

She started to walk away from him when he grabbed her hand, stopping her from leaving.

Bulma looked over her shoulder at him and her hand in surprise. _Never_ had he instigated anything or given her any encouragement and she had no idea what to do so she did the most logical thing that came to mind and took her step back towards him so that she was next to him again.

He hoped she wouldn't say anything, and so far she hadn't. This had been the first thing that had popped into his mind as she began to walk away from him.

_Stupid boy,_ he thought to himself. He had been working out with Trunks shortly after that afternoon at the amusement park and he had asked him why he never held hands with Bulma. He hadn't had an answer. He thought it was stupid. What was the point in trolling around holding hands? He could understand to a point when Bulma held Trunks' hand, he was a child and she did not want him to get lost. So what was the point in adults holding hands?

He didn't understand the significance of it, but it shut Bulma up and kept her from leaving. For now, maybe this was enough to make her happy.

Bulma wasn't sure what to make of this sudden, new development so she laced her fingers with his and stood contentedly next to him. It wasn't exactly the declaration she wanted, but it was _something_ and she knew she needed to tread carefully.

Tired of standing, she led him to a nearby bench and sat down, still holding hands. She knew she was stupid to be feeling as giddy as she was but she couldn't help it.

"What are you doing later?" she asked cautiously, the silence beginning to drive her insane.

He shrugged.

"If you want, you can always come hang out with me later on," she said, trying to sound casual.

He shrugged again. She had taken another man into her bed and had let him use her more than once just last night. It bothered him that she would so quickly invite him while she still smelled of the other.

Yes, the invitation and possibilities were alluring, but he would not pursue her until he could not smell the other man on her.

Bulma bit her tongue to keep from screaming at him and just focused on the beautiful afternoon weather and the small victory she'd gained.

When Trunks was done playing, he came running towards them.

"You guys are holding hands!" he exclaimed jokingly but she could tell he was delighted.

"Hmmn," Vegeta grunted, letting her hand go as though it was scalding his own.

"You ready to go home?" Bulma asked him, standing up and ignoring Vegeta altogether.

"Ya," he nodded and they began to make their way back to Bulma's capsule car.

Bulms paused a moment to let Vegeta catch up to her and decided to chance it and take his hand again; she felt her stomach flip in excitement as he didn't flinch away but allowed the contact.

The ride home and the rest of the day went by without incident. Vegeta seemed to have disappeared, much to Bulma's disappointment, but she reminded herself that while she may be ready to jump into something that maybe things needed to go a little slower with him. _He_ _over_ _thinks_ _everything_ , she thought to herself as she stepped into her hot bath as part of her usual Sunday evening ritual, after changing the sheets on her bed. _For all I know, he's sitting on some isolated mountain in the middle of nowhere freaking out because we held hands today._

She laid back and took a sip of her wine and stared at the ceiling only now realizing how exhausted she was. Today had been stressful. She hadn't gotten a good night's rest to begin with between having sex with Derek and then dwelling on Vegeta and the mixed signals from him. Then she and Derek had broken up first thing in the morning and she'd pretty much spent the afternoon at the park and she was now having second thoughts about what she had said to Vegeta about not wanting him around if he wasn't interested in her. That wasn't true, and she hoped he wouldn't just up and disappear now because she'd let her stupid emotions get the better of her.

If he came back, she decided she would leave him be and let him take the initiative. He knew she wanted him, the rest was up to him now.

She washed her hair, shaved her legs and gave herself a good scrub down, silently shaking her head at herself. She should have showered after her previous night's activities.

Bulma drained her tub and dried herself off, applying her favourite regimen of lotions and creams to her face and body.

Instead of going to her bonus room to watch tv, she chose to watch tv in bed tonight; maybe fall asleep with the tv on, as she often did.

She was settled and finally chose something to watch when she heard her patio door creak ever so slightly.

"What do you want?" she sighed, unsure of how long he had been out there, but also knowing that he obviously had wanted her to know that he was there if he had allowed himself to make any noise at all.

Vegeta walked into her bedroom cautiously and then closed the door behind him. "You need to quit doing that,"

"Doing what?"

"Leaving your door open," he clarified. "Anyone could just walk in here."

"Ya, anyone who can fly," she rolled her eyes, dismissing his concern. "Besides, I like the breeze coming into my room."

He didn't argue further with her, only crossed his arms and leaned against the now closed door, feigning interest in whatever it was she had on the tv.

"You can come over here and stay a while," she sighed, patting the other side of her bed next to her.

Vegeta looked a moment, not committing either way.

"I _changed_ my bedsheets," she sighed again in annoyance of his obsessive compulsiveness.

"I can still smell _him_ in here," he replied sourly, making a face but made his way over to her bed anyway, propping himself up next to her.

They were quiet for a while, both pretending to be absorbed with the tv program.

Feeling confident, Bulma shifted herself closer to him and placed her hand in his, which he allowed. He even clasped his hand around hers in reciprocation even though he still didn't understand the significance of the gesture. He had thought about it quite a bit today and while he decided he didn't mind it all that much, he didn't really understand it. However he likened it to the same outward display of affection Saiyan mates would show by entwining their tails and so that was how he reasoned it and why he allowed it.

Her mind began to wander, trying to think up something to say to him so he wouldn't just up and leave at any moment.

"I didn't mean what I said when I told you I didn't want you around," she started. "Things don't have to change,"

He inwardly relaxed somewhat at that; he didn't want things to change.

"I want to be with you, but I don't want to ask you for more than you want to give," she continued awkwardly. "Last time we were together, I didn't mean to scare you off. I-"

"You rejected me," he interrupted her.

"Uhm, no," she shook her head, frowning; completely dumbfounded by his accusation. That was _not_ how she remembered it. "You up and left me mid-hook up in the gravity room and then disappeared without explanation."

"Yes, because…" he stopped short, not wanting to discuss it. It embarrassed him.

"Because _why_?" she pressed, turning to look at him. "Vegeta I have wracked my brain over a million times trying to figure out what the hell happened that day. _Please,_ tell me."

"I bit you," he answered after a long pause.

"Right," she nodded, remembering that for herself.

"You reacted negatively,"

"Well it hurt and I didn't know you were into that or that you were going to…" she spluttered awkwardly trying to recall everything. "It just took me by surprise is all, no big deal. So what? You didn't have to leave after that the way you did and avoid me."

He thought about that a moment. So she hadn't had any idea of the implications behind such an action? _Interesting,_ he thought. "It does not matter,"

"No, Vegeta, it _does_." she insisted.

"Biting someone, like where I bit you," he started. "Is something reserved for mates. It is significant, but not something I meant to do at that time."

Bulma nodded as she listened to him carefully, glad that he was finally sharing his side of the situation with her. "So because of my reaction, you thought I was rejecting something more… meaningful?"

He nodded once.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know," she said. "If I had…"

"It does not matter," he bristled.

"No, I'm sorry I made you feel that way!" she insisted. "You should have told me!"

"It worked out favourably in the end," he said nonchalantly.

Bulma somewhat balked at that statement. _Favourably_? How could he possibly think the last four years had worked out _favourably?_ Instead of flying off the handle in offense, she gave herself a moment to collect her thoughts before speaking, not wanting to say anything to blow it now that they were having a serious, meaningful discussion about their relationship.

"Favourably in what way?" she asked, feeling that was a safe question that didn't betray her true feelings of wanting to slap him upside the head.

"When we were together last, it was purely to alleviate a curiosity and a physical need," he said slowly as though trying to choose his words carefully.

"Ya, you made that _abundantly_ clear," she agreed.

"In my culture when a couple decides to commit as life mates, they leave and consummate their union for several days and return as mates; bonded in some cases," he explained awkwardly. He could feel his cheeks getting warm. "A part of that ritual is the male bites the female on the neck during the mating process. It serves to mark her as taken and unavailable to other males. The female does the same in return."

"The same way we exchange rings," she said more to herself as she began to understand the whole picture. She tried to keep a straight face and pretend she didn't notice him blushing.

"Yes, but it is permanent," he nodded.

"So it's a serious declaration from your end to do that?" she asked, trying to contain the girlish giddiness threatening to bubble forth.

"Yes, almost instinctual," he said.

"So you thought I didn't want that... with you?" she asked as it all finally began to make sense.

Vegeta nodded. "However I did not want that at that time either,"

"You weren't ready," she said knowingly.

"No," he agreed, shaking his head. "I still am not sure if that is what I want,"

"Which is why it was favourable that I reacted the way I did at the time," she said in understanding. "However I'm sorry for offending you, if I had known..."

"I was not only angry with you," he interrupted her. "I was angry with myself for not being more conscientious of my actions."

"And then I told you I loved you and that I was pregnant with Trunks," she added, only now understanding all that he had been going through at the time. It had been too much, far too quickly; much more than he had been prepared to take on in such a short time and he had lashed out at her in his frustration.

"Having a child and mate was never something I considered for my life," he admitted. "My plan had been to remain here to train and defeat the androids and then Kakarott and then leave all of this behind and start my own life doing as I pleased."

"And none of that went down the way you had hoped," she said, resting her head on his shoulder.

"No, it did not," he agreed.

"So after Cell and the androids..." she started cautiously. "You still could have left. I always wondered why you stayed. Especially since it's not like we were on good terms."

Vegeta shrugged. He didn't really have an answer. He had meant to leave many times except for whatever reason he hadn't. Part of that had been his own depression over everything; it had been so overwhelmingly debilitating that he hadn't even had the desire to leave or think or do anything productive.

For the first time in his life it had been completely up to him what he could do. There was no one telling him where to be and what he needed to do. He could do literally _anything._ Except when it came down to it, he had no idea what he even wanted to do and the notion had been terrifying. There were no other Saiyans for him to band together with the hope of re-establishing the former glory of his race. He was the only one left. His desire to build anything again had died with Kakarott, whom he didn't even have as an adversary or sparring partner anymore at this point.

Trunks being born had put a wrench in his plans, or so he had told himself many times. He had resented the woman and child for a long time, hating the fact that now he had ties here on this planet and telling himself that his new found freedom was lost because of a lapse in judgement on his part.

It had been the time he had spent with the future version of his son training for Cell in the hyperbolic time chamber that had given him pause to even consider staying here whenever he convinced himself to leave. Without that experience, he honestly didn't know what he would have done otherwise or if he would have recovered from that deep, dark place he had been. He owed much of his recovery to Trunks and to Bulma too, if he was honest with himself.

"Your nagging and bitchiness was not all bad," he said finally, looking at her. He wanted to tell her that she had played a huge role in bringing him back to himself but he didn't know how. "I needed a kick in the ass,"

"I'm not going to lie, you scared the shit out of me," she admitted, though she smirked at herself in memory of walking into his dark den and yanking the blankets off of him and demanding he come outside to eat with her and Trunks. In hindsight, that hadn't been such a wise idea and had he not been in the depressive state he was in, on any other occasion her life would have probably been ended.

As she looked at him, she noticed his eyes wander to look at her mouth and she could tell he was considering kissing her. She wanted to make that decision easier for him by closing the gap between them but she reminded herself that it had to be _him_ who made the effort.

He looked back at her in indecision. He _wanted_ her, but he was afraid to want her, he realized. He wasn't exactly sure what he was afraid of, but he was afraid and it disgusted him because he wasn't afraid of anything.

The longer he thought of it the clearer it became to him that he was afraid of failure. What if he couldn't do this... _relationship thing_ she so desperately wanted with him? Nothing in his life up to this point had prepared him for fulfilling this role in life.

_He's over thinking it now_ , she told herself in disappointment; she could tell by the now guarded expression on his face that hadn't been there a moment ago. Her instinct was to say something to encourage him, but her own fear of rejection was stronger. Instead, she leaned back, looking expectantly at him. She wasn't going to be the instigator here. She was done playing that game with him.

As much as he tried to deny it, Bulma was special to him. He did not want to cause her undo pain if things didn't work out between them but on the other hand, he didn't want her with anyone else either. The last few months she had dated Derek had shown him that.

He reached up and gently touched the side of her face. His heart and head and gut telling him to chance it. She had taken a chance on him in taking him in and letting him stay in her home despite knowing what kind of a man he was and after all the horrible things he had said to her and the things he had done, she had still let him remain here and had not given up on him; even let him have a relationship with his own son. Maybe it was time for him to take a chance on her and trust that what she wanted from him wasn't such a horrible thing.

With that thought in mind, he leaned in and kissed her.

Bulma responded immediately, kissing him back eagerly, trying to refrain from not being too enthusiastic was in the back of her mind, but her mouth had other ideas and a mind of its own.

She placed her other hand lightly on his jawline, just below his ear before breaking their kiss; she had been holding her breath the last few minutes in anticipation of what he would do until he had kissed her and now she was oxygen deprived and breathless.

Instead of pulling away from her, he leaned in and kissed her again a moment later lightly on the lips once, twice, three times before she opened her mouth up again for him, inviting him to deepen the kiss, which he did.

She let go of his hand and shifted somewhat so she wasn't craning her neck so much as she kissed him back longingly.

After a few minutes he pulled away from her; they both needed air.

She bit her lower lip and smiled at him, her whole body was warm from excitement and she wondered what he had in store for her.

Instead of leaning in to continue, he made to leave, which puzzled her. She placed her hand on his, in an effort to get him to stay with her.

"You can't just show up in a girl's bedroom at night, kiss her within an inch of her life like that and then leave," she said in a joking tone, but she was serious.

"I can still smell _him_ in your bed," he replied dryly.

"Well we can go to _your_ bed if that will make you feel better," she said, inwardly cringing at how desperate she sounded.

"No, we will wait," he said, smirking at her.

"Alright," she agreed. In a way, she didn't mind all that much. After all, she _had_ slept with someone else not twenty four hours ago. Something she was deeply regretting at the moment. However, if she and Vegeta were going to make the honest effort this time, she wanted it to be _real_ and not just based on sex. "I'll still be up for a bit, you can stay and watch tv with me if you want."

He considered her offer and decided to accept. After all, he was going to chance this _relationship_ thing, wasn't he?

Vegeta nodded and removed his boots before making himself comfortable beside her again. She took his hand and rested her head on his shoulder contentedly and he decided that it wasn't so bad.

"You can use the door next time you'd like to talk to me, you know," she said.

"What is wrong with the balcony?" he asked. "You feel it necessary to leave it open; that is why I use it."

"It's creepy," she replied. "How am I sure you're not lurking around and watching me change?"

"You are obviously unconcerned about who sees you seeing as you leave it open," he pointed out.

"Because _no one_ else can get up there!"

He thought about her argument a moment. It was true, no one aside from the Z fighters were able to get up there and he knew that they all knew better than to even attempt it. Not only because they would receive his wrath but if she caught any of them, she would make sure they regretted it for a long time. "Fine, but I do _not_ lurk around to watch you change," he growled, offended that she would think he would stoop to such lewd conduct.

"How do I know that?" she retorted teasingly.

"Because _I_ am not a perverted turtle hermit,"

"No, you aren't," she giggled, letting the matter slide.

They watched tv together in companionable silence until he noticed Bulma had fallen asleep. He carefully got out of her bed, turned off the tv and promptly shut her balcony door.

The next morning, Bulma was dragging her heels, not wanting to go to work and face Derek. However she knew she couldn't be a coward and call in _sick_ either. Not only because she was worried about what Derek would think because he'd obviously know she wasn't but they also had to finish their statement to the press over the angry workers.

She held her breath in the elevator until she made it to the sales floor and walked brusquely to her office, not stopping to talk to anyone in case they already knew. Not everyone knew they had been dating but if someone found out about their break up, she was sure then everyone would hear about it.

"Hey," Derek greeted her cautiously a few moments after she entered her office. "I brought you a coffee,"

"Thanks," she smiled awkwardly at him. "You really didn't have to do that,"

"I know," he nodded. "But I figured today would be as awkward for you as it is for me and thought I may as well break the ice with a peace offering."

"An extra-large coffee on a Monday morning is _always_ an acceptable peace offering," she chuckled, thankful that he was making the effort to not let this be any more uncomfortable than it already was. "Look, I'm sorry about this weekend-"

"Don't worry about it," he said waving his hand in dismissal. "It happens. I'll be fine,"

"Okay," she nodded at him. "So where do we stand with these protesters?" she asked. There didn't seem to be any out front, as she had expected.

Derek shrugged. "Not sure,"

They went to go talk to Naz, who told them that he had gotten permission from their PR department to pay off the reporter so long as she agreed to insist that the protestors rally in front of their respective former employees places of work instead of outside of Capsule Corporation.

"Good save, Naz," she said to him.

"I going on the news to personally issue our statement we came up with on Saturday on air so we aren't completely out of the woods yet," he replied cautiously. "It all depends on how the viewers and general public reacts to this story but I'm thinking it will all just blow over."

"Hopefully," Derek nodded.

"Crisis averted," Bulma shrugged, leaving the office. She had things she needed to get done and based on hers and Vegeta's conversation last night, she didn't want to waste a single moment more at the office than she needed to! She was determined on getting out of there on time for a change.

The day flew by quickly and things between her and Derek weren't nearly as awkward as she had thought they would be, much to her relief. A lot of that was because they were both professionals and we're able to set personal life on the back burner instead of allowing it to interfere.

She didn't leave as early as she had wanted, but she had gotten home at a reasonable hour and Trunks was even still up.

Vegeta was nowhere to be seen, but she spent time with Trunks, playing a board game with him until it was time for his bedtime.

After tucking him in and grabbing a glass of wine and snack for herself, she retreated to her den for the evening. She made sure she was wearing an adorable pair of dark blue silk pyjama bottoms and matching fitted top.

She watched about half an episode of one of her favourite shows before she wondered if she'd left her balcony doors open for Vegeta and went to check. They were closed, so she opened them just in case he decided to drop by, as her balcony seemed to be his preference.

Settling back into the couch, she resumed watching her show though found herself not paying any real attention to it because she was wondering _where_ Vegeta was and _if_ he was going to show up at all? He couldn't have gone that far, seeing as Trunks had told her about what he and Vegeta had done that morning for their training. _So where the hell is he?_

-0-0-0-

Vegeta lay on the roof of Capsule Corporation, watching the stars and taking in the warm breeze.

He knew Bulma was awake and impatiently waiting for him to show up.

It wasn't that he was having second thoughts and it wasn't that he didn't want to go to her; he _knew_ if he went they would end up in bed. Not that he was wanting to put that off any longer than he had already. The only problem was that he knew she had to work the next day, which meant that he couldn't keep her occupied all night.

If he was going to take the plunge with her for good, he wanted to do it his way and make it so that she _knew_ that she was his and he in turn belonged to her.

The only problem with that was he had no idea what to do. Should he take her someplace to claim her or was here good enough? He wanted her to know that him bedding her was more than simply satiating a physical need.

Vegeta sensed her frustration and smirked to himself as she made her way back to her bedroom, presumably to go to sleep.

He would come up with something, of that he was sure of. He also thought it was humorous to let her suffer a few days seeing as he was still annoyed that she had slept with the other male.

The next night Vegeta was a no show again but on Wednesday evening he decided to make an appearance so as to make his intentions towards her known.

As usual, her balcony door was left wide open to everyone and anyone and he wasn't sure if she was doing it to deliberately piss him off or because she was honestly that reckless. Nonetheless, he decided he was going to use that as his form of entry because she specifically had asked him not to and he had specifically requested that she leave the door _closed_.

"And just where the hell have _you_ been?" she greeted him sourly as he walked into her bedroom from the balcony. She had decided to get some much needed paperwork done in bed before going to sleep.

"Around," he replied nonchalantly.

She gathered a bunch of her papers and put them to the side, indicating that he could come sit with her, which he did.

"Well ya could have fooled me," she sighed. "Way to leave a girl hanging. At least with Derek he _always_ called. I always knew where I stood with him. He didn't kiss me and then bugger off for a week."

"It was two days," he deadpanned.

"Well it _felt_ like a week!" she insisted, rolling her eyes. "Whatever, I'll give you a free pass _this_ time."

Vegeta snorted at her and crossed his arms. "If you think I am going to adhere to all the idiotic customs and laws and farces associated with human courtship, you had better think again,"

She opened her mouth to object to his callas remark but then closed it as her mind processed what he had actually just said and thankfully caught up to her mouth before she spewed out the tongue lashing of a lifetime. _Wait a minute, did he just essentially say that we are courting,_ she asked herself. "Is that so?"

"Hmmn," he nodded once, not looking at her. Here he had been here a matter of a few moments and he had already degraded and made a fool of himself.

"So then how does Vegeta court a girl?" she asked, intrigued by the notion of being _courted_ by Vegeta.

_Shit,_ he thought to himself. He truthfully had no idea; he didn't want to waste his time going out places doing activities in public surrounded by other people. He'd already decided that she was a suitable choice as a life mate. They had a son already, what was the point in putting up pretences? _None,_ he replied to himself. He had wanted to wait until the weekend to solidify his intentions but the longer he thought about that, the sillier it seemed. _Fuck it,_ he sighed inwardly. He had waited long enough. "He doesn't,"

Before she could question him any further, his mouth was on hers, kissing her slowly and sensually, not wanting to rush things. It had been so long that now that he had her exactly where he wanted her, he wanted to take his time with her. After all, it wasn't his problem that she needed to be at work the next day and he did not want to give her reason to decide that the other male was more worthy of her attention because he apparently doted on her.

Bulma kissed him back eagerly, her heart and mind singing for joy. Tossing her stack of papers on the floor, she scooted down the bed, delighted that he did not pull back but pursued her; their mouths melded together as the intensity between them began to build.

He raised the hem of her nightdress somewhat and brought his hand down between her legs, brushing his fingers across her centre lightly, noting that she was not wearing any panties, before dipping a finger inside her. She was wet already in her need for him and he did not want to waste a single moment more trying to figure out if they should do this or not.

She moaned half in pleasure and half in frustration of needing more from him than just his fingers. She arched her back impatiently, hoping he would take the hint and hurry things along already. There would be time later on for teasing and foreplay; right now all she wanted was him.

He sensed her urgency and withdrew his fingers from her. Breaking their kiss, he pulled back from her to quickly remove his clothing; she in tern only had to whip off her night dress, which she did and tossed it to the floor without hesitation.

Vegeta leaned in again to kiss her as she opened her legs invitingly for him and not wasting any more time, he entered her slowly, savouring the feel of her; he was pleasantly surprised at how tight she was. He had assumed that she wouldn't be as tight as she was before, now that she had birthed a child, but she felt the same as he remembered she had.

Bulma gasped as he filled her up wholly and completely; her excitement level so high by this point that she almost came right then. She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly, wanting to have him as close and as deep inside of her as physically possible. She wanted _all_ of him; his body, heart and soul and she only hoped he wanted the same from her. She would give it to him completely and unconditionally if only he would let her.

A voice in the back of her mind whispered caution at her to not be reckless with her heart when it came to Vegeta but she ignored it. _This_ _time it's right, I know it,_ she told herself. _This time we will make it work._

Vegeta kissed her deeply as he began to move inside of her slowly, loving the way her body rocked in unison with him. Why had he put this off for so long, he wondered?

They both lost any and all coherent thought except for savouring the feeling of their union, listening to the others breathing and feeling the pleasure slowly building up in waves to a boiling point.

Her nails dug into his back as her body contracted against him and it didn't take long and his own climax followed, hitting him so suddenly that he didn't have the time to pull himself back or attempt to tame it. He uttered something between a grunt and a moan as he finished inside of her; his body going rigid as pleasure ripped through him.

Bulma clung to him as she savoured her own bust of pleasure and felt him shake in his release and kissed his neck and jaw and was content to just have him there to embrace.

Vegeta pulled out of her carefully and wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her close; her damp skin sticking to his.

He wanted to say something to her but wasn't sure what or how to say what he wanted to say to her. He wanted her as his woman and life mate, but he didn't want to go through all the formalities and big affair that seemed to be traditionally involved with that on this planet. From what he knew of his own culture, couples would leave everyone for a few days and consummate their union and that was that. No signing of treaties and parties and all that hassle with gowns and garbage. He knew however that she would want a formal commitment.

A commitment was something he decided he could do; he did not have a problem with that. Showing it and openly declaring it publicly on the other hand was something he would not. All he knew was he did not want her having any other male in her bed besides him and he would not have another female. That much he was certain on.

"What are we going to tell everyone?" she murmured, distracting him.

"It is none of anyone else's business," he replied.

"True," she agreed. "But they're going to wonder. Trunks especially."

He started to panic. _So she does expect some outrageous public spectacle,_ he said to himself.

Somehow she picked up on his discomfort with the topic. She turned around in his arms and wrapped her own arms around his neck. "Nothing has to change, Vegeta. Things can stay _exactly_ the same as they are now. I don't need you to do anything that you aren't comfortable with. I only need you."

He nodded and rested his forehead against hers in relief. But how could he tell her that while he did not want to go through the formalities, he _did_ want it to be just them. He didn't want her to continue seeing other men as she had been.

"I don't expect you to participate in some lavish wedding ceremony," she said, feeling the need to clarify that.

"Hmmmn, good," he growled. "And I expect that you will not see that male again."

"If I'm with you, I'm with you," she said. "You told me you weren't interested so I found someone who was."

"I never said that I was not interested," he said.

"You said that you didn't want to complicate things," she reminded him. "You also said that you didn't care what I did when I told you I was seeing somebody else."

He thought on that for a moment. He _had_ said those things and he wasn't sure _why._ "Alright well now I am telling you I do not want you _seeing_ anybody else." He said sourly, not liking that he was being made to discuss this when it should have been painfully obvious to her.

"Then I won't," she replied with a smile. No, it wasn't the heartfelt declaration of love she wanted, but she knew coming from Vegeta, that was probably the closest she would get to him admitting any type of feelings towards her and it was enough to keep her happy.

She turned around and settled herself in his arms, revelling in the warmth and security of his embrace.

As she felt herself begin to doze off though, he began to stroke her gently and she soon felt the tip of his erection against the back of her thigh, ready again to claim her.

She mewled delightfully in consent, taking one of his hands and guiding it so that his fingers were pressing on her clit as she arched her back into him, encouraging him to proceed.

He hissed as he slowly entered her from behind, her warm wet centre drawing him in deeply. He stopped his movement once he was completely inside of her.

She whined in frustration that he wasn't moving but was rewarded by him rubbing her clit slowly and he nipped a little at her shoulder, which she didn't seem to mind.

Eventually he moved out of her, leaving only the tip of his member inside her before surging back into her, setting reasonable pace. His other hand grasped onto one of her breasts, kneading it and playing with her nipple between his fingers; his other hand still massaging her front.

She cried out suddenly as he shoved himself into her more forcefully this time, speeding up his pace, hitting a sensitive spot inside her he had yet to find.

"Shhh," he hissed at her, bringing his hand that had been on her breast up and over her mouth. "The boy's bedroom,"

_Shit,_ she thought, forgetting all about Trunks. However Vegeta's added display of firmness with her had turned her on even more. She opened her mouth and began sucking on one of his fingers, mimicking the same rhythm he was moving into and out of her.

Amused, he slipped a second finger into her mouth and let her continue; it would seem he had figured out a way to keep her quiet after all.

She moaned as she sucked on his fingers and just lost herself in him, content with letting him do as he pleased. Once again, she could not deny, Vegeta was without a doubt the best she'd ever had.

At one point she had convinced herself that over time her mind had just over embellished how good they had been together. _No,_ she thought as she moaned again as he began to move even quicker and she felt the pleasure gathering at her centre bringing her so close to climax again.

Vegeta could feel her beginning to tighten around him and he knew she was close; so was he. He had been trying to hold off as long as possible in order to make sure she reached her peak.

When they finished they both fell asleep fairly quickly after that wrapped in a sloppy embrace; both feeling sated and happier than either of them remembered being in a long time.


	10. Epilogue

_**Falling Away With You** _

_**Epilogue** _

Things slowly began to fall into a routine for both Bulma and Vegeta. Bulma made sure things were kept simple; _just_ like she'd said it would be. She didn't pressure him or put any added expectations onto him to make him feel trapped or regret his decision. Things had stayed the same, _mostly,_ except with the added benefit of their nightly activities being far more interesting than that of just watching their favourite tv programs.

A few weeks later, Bulma even got the okay from her father and transferred out of the sales department and back to the lab where she could work just as easily from home as at the professional building. Not only was it better in the sense that she could spend more time with Trunks, but she felt Vegeta preferred it as well, also knowing that she would not be working with Derek at all anymore.

Vegeta even began using the gravity room again, much to both Bulma's surprise and delight. It would seem that he was back, doing what he loved the most and he was back to his obsessive training regimen and he added Trunks into the equation as well. Bulma allowed him to train with his father in the gravity room just so long as Vegeta didn't overdo it with him and he didn't train under excessive force.

He still hadn't taken her out or attempted to do anything to complete the formal mating ritual, which was a part of his own culture; he felt he did not need to. She was not making him adhere to hers and he knew how she felt about being visibly marked. It should have bothered him, but it didn't. He knew his woman was as vain as they came and that her preference had more to do with vanity than anything else. Besides, she had taken to wearing a thin silver band on the ring finger of her left hand within a few weeks of them officially beginning their physical relationship again. She hadn't mentioned anything to him about it, but he had noticed and recognized the significance of it and that was enough for him; truth be told, a part of him did not want to mar her body permanently anyway. Sure he marked her on occasion during their coupling, but it was always where no one else would see it and she never objected to it.

Not only that, but now that he had fully accepted her into his life, he had noticed a bond beginning to form between them. He did not think it was obvious to her, being that she was human, but he felt it. He was more in tune to her whereabouts and moods than he ever was before and so he assumed that was what his people had meant when he had heard Nappa speak of _bonded mates._ He had never questioned him on it to learn more because he had never thought he would even have the interest in finding a mate to settle down with.

Vegeta grunted as he spent himself inside her. It had been six months since they had began their affair again and even he had to admit that it wasn't as horrible as he had thought it would be. Bulma didn't put any restrictions on his training and she was almost always a willing partner in the evenings, even if they'd had an argument. That seemed to be the best way to make amends, he had discovered.

He pulled out of her and wrapped an arm around her waist, as was now customary for them; Bulma loved to cuddle and be close afterwards for at least a few minutes despite his objections that it was uncomfortable and too hot.

"I love you," she murmured sleepily almost as an afterthought before falling asleep.

Vegeta froze. Unsure of how to respond. It had been for this reason why he had not wanted to get involved again. He didn't know how to reciprocate this sort of thing.

"I'm sorry, I know you don't like to hear that, but I do and I like to say it as well," she said, regretting her slip. Things between her and Vegeta were usually pretty good recently unless she got too sappy for his liking and then he got uncomfortable.

"It is meaningless," he growled, letting her go and began getting out of bed.

"It's not meaningless to me," she objected. "I know you _care_ for both me and Trunks so why can't you ever _say_ it?"

"Because it is a stupid statement that is overused and does not need to be said," he argued from inside her bathroom.

"Well I'm okay with you not telling me every five minutes like some girls, but once in a while it would be _nice_ to be told that you care for me. Especially after doing what we just did so I don't feel like a piece of meat." she whined.

"We have a son," he replied finally, in an exasperated tone after exiting her bathroom a few minutes later.

She sat up in bed and wrapped her blankets around herself, frowning at him, now wide awake. "Uhm, yeah. So?"

"You do not walk up to me every day or two or three times a day and say _'_ _we have a son_ _,'_ do you?"

"No."

"Exactly," he nodded. "You do not need to. It is simply a statement of obvious fact. You do not need to tell me we have a son because we both already _know_ we have a son. We have a son, and his name is Trunks."

Bulma looked at him and blinked a few times before a small smile graced her face. She chuckled at him and nodded. "We have a son."

"Indeed," he replied, quickly getting dressed before she humiliated him further. He could not believe he had said all of that to her. Now she knew the true depth of his feelings for her and he could not take it back, ever. What was worse, she would probably take advantage of this new found knowledge and exploit it.

"We have a son, just like you have a Gravity Room and just like we live at Capsule Corporation and you are the Prince of all Saiyans," she said slowly to him, giving him a look that had made his ears start to burn red from embarrassment. She had figured out exactly what he had meant.

"That is correct," he replied gruffly as he finished dressing. He needed to get out of there and think about this. "Your point?"

"No point," she said innocently, still trying to hide the sly smile that was threatening to take over that mouth of hers. "Just stating the obvious facts is all."

"Hmmn," he grumbled and left her bedroom in a huff to go and brood for a few hours and decide what to do now. How could he have said such a thing! "We have a son," he muttered quietly to himself, shaking his head at himself in disgust at his own actions.

He locked himself in the gravity chamber until well into the early hours of the morning so that she would most definitely be asleep by then and he had left before she had awoken because he did not want to discuss it.

He had fled to one of his favorite mountainsides to think and dwell on everything that had transpired in the last six months. She had not told him she'd loved him since their first brief encounter had come to an end. That was why it had taken him off guard. He knew she felt deeply for him, and he could admit that he felt strongly about her, but that didn't mean he wanted to be openly declaring it and shouting it out from the rooftops like an imbecile.

 _Maybe I should leave,_ he thought as a slew of irrational thoughts began to swirl into his mind now that he had essentially told her, in his own way, that he loved her. _No_ , he reasoned. He couldn't do that to Trunks; _he would be devastated which was why, god dammit, I should_ _have left when I had the chance, instead of sticking around here!_

What if someone from his past was tracking him and found him here? He had made many enemies during his time in Frieza's service. It was more than likely that he had a few really decent bounties on his head that many would be only too happy to collect on. It was highly unlikely that any of them would even _think_ to look for him down here on a planet as insignificant as Earth, but that did not mean it wasn't a possibility.

When Frieza sent him out to collect bounties on deserters, he usually looked in the most unusual, most unlikely places to find his mark. _That_ was always where he found them; and what did he do if they were settled with a family, wanting to be left alone? He took out their families first, in front of them and sometimes in the cruelest, most brutal of fashions. Why? Because attachments made a person weak. They made a person vulnerable.

Now he was one of _those_ individuals.

He had a woman and child that he would do anything to keep safe and should anyone harm either of them, he knew it would be the death of him.

 _That_ was why he was upset with her for telling him that she loved him. It made him realize what he really felt for her. Truthfully, he already knew but now he had been forced to acknowledge it and it did not sit well with him. He felt like by admitting it out loud was to jinx it and it was only a matter of time now before someone came to do to him what he had done to so many others.

He knew that he would defend them until his last breath if he needed to, that he was far stronger than many of the weaklings he had been commissioned to collect. However he still did not want to bring that down upon his family. They did not need to suffer because of his past doings.

That was another thing he did not like about living here; these Earthlings had clouded his moral compass. For the first time in his life, he felt _bad_ about his past. Before coming here, he had been proud of himself, his accomplishments and his reputation. Now over the years, he had gradually began to feel shame for the things that he had done and he hated feeling shame over his past; so much so that there were times where he questioned whether or not he was fit to be raising a child?

Bulma however, felt different. She never judged him and never made him feel bad for his former life choices and desires. It was as though it didn't exist to her because all she saw was how he had been since he had come to reside with her and her family and he continually shook his head at her naivety.

Vegeta remained there for a few days and did not return until he had convinced himself that no one was coming to destroy what he had acquired in the last few years and that even if they did, he would end them before they even had a look at Bulma or Trunks.

Fortunately for him, she was not upset at his absence and had accepted his ' _we have a son_ ' explanation and never once pushed or pestered him to say that putrid statement ever again. She had never smothered him or used it against him either. Nothing had changed between them. For that he was thankful to her for.

_**Three** _ _**Years later…** _

"Hurry _up_ , woman!" Vegeta bellowed impatiently as he waited for her to finish getting ready. "You are going to make us late."

"I _am_ hurrying, Vegeta just calm down," she said irritably from the bathroom as she put the finishing touches to her hair; she had recently cut it into a super short but trendy bob. She hadn't seen anyone from the old gang in a few years so she wanted to make sure she looked nothing short of stunning now that they were all meeting up for this new World Tournament. "Alright, I'm ready."

Vegeta looked her up and down in appreciation. She was wearing a tight red scoop-neck dress that showed off her ample cleavage, flat stomach and small waistline quite nicely. At 40 years of age, she didn't look a day older than the 30 year old woman he had first encountered on Namek; in his mind anyway, he thought she looked just as good. However she was constantly bitching about aging. He simply ignored it.

"See something you like?" she asked, feeling herself flush at the heated way he was looking at her, not hiding his thoughts.

"I see something I like _very_ much," he replied, reaching for her and pulling her close towards him. He kissed her hungrily, taking her face in both of his hands.

He had been feeling off the past few weeks and he attributed it to his nerves. In his state, he had neglected her and seeing her now looking nothing short of ravishing, he felt regret at having distanced himself from her.

He backed her up into the wall beside the closed door, reaching for the hem of her dress to bring it up and around her waist.

"Hmm, I've missed you," she murmured against his mouth, eagerly wrapping her legs around his lean waist, not bringing up the fact that it had only been a moment ago that he had been rushing her to get ready so that they would not be late.

Vegeta managed to slide down his blue training pants, while keeping her pinned firmly against the wall as he kissed her back and slid a hand down into the front of her panties between them to touch her, making sure she desired him in the moment the same as he desired her.

"I need you right _now_ ," she uttered in something that was between a moan and a whisper as he sunk two fingers into her.

He withdrew them and pushed her flimsy underwear aside and slid himself into her warm, welcoming heat. He didn't know why he did this to himself every now and again, he thought as he thrust into her urgently. They didn't have the time to prolong their coupling now; he knew that, but he _needed_ her before he entered that arena. _It is shameful and pathetic,_ he told himself but refused to dwell on his weakness now and only focused on the feeling of having her wrapped around him.

Bulma tightened her arms and legs around him as he moved in and out of her, wanting to keep him close. Things hadn't been necessarily strained between them as of late, but something had been off about him in the past few weeks leading up to the tournament. She'd initially brushed it off as his nerves getting the better of him but something inside of her told her that it was much more than that.

She'd even worried that he had possibly sunk back into the deep depression that had taken a hold of him so long ago right after the Cell games but something told her that wasn't it either. She wished he would just open up to her and tell her what it was that was bothering him. Was he no longer attracted to her, she wondered at times? He had barely come to their bed and it had become apparent in recent years that she was beginning to show her age and he did not.

She knew that things from his past sometimes troubled him; she never knew what exactly triggered him, but she knew he suffered from nightmares and flashbacks. It seemed to not happen as much as it used to, but she suspected that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder to some degree and usually wrote off his episodes of distancing himself from her towards that. He'd never talk about it, so she didn't know. The one time she had tried to be helpful in suggesting he talk about it and explained that it was only normal for him to go through phases of depression and anxiety, given his past, it only served to anger him and they'd gotten into a huge fight over it so she had learned to just let it go and wait for him to come to her.

Bulma hoped this tournament would be a good thing for him.

His mouth trailed up her jawline and down to her neck where he sucked and nibbled where her pulse was. Something about her neck drove him wild. Maybe it was because her scent seemed to be stronger there or maybe it was because he could feel her pulse. She never seemed to mind when his mouth lingered there now that she knew that from him it symbolized the deepest form of affection. That she didn't mind was maybe why it was such a turn on for him. It demonstrated how deeply she trusted him. His teeth were sharper than any humans. If he wanted to end her life, all he had to do was bite down and she would bleed out within minutes. The thought excited him and bothered him at the same time.

All these years had gone by and he hadn't killed a single being. Sometimes he missed the thrill of the kill. The feeling of blood lust. He didn't necessarily regret his decision to remain here with this woman and her son but there were moments when he missed certain aspects of his former life. He'd had no ties, no one else to think of. Before all of this, he had been the perfect warrior.

Within the last few months, he had felt something he couldn't put words to over becoming a _domesticated family man_ as this planet labelled it. He was just like everyone else on this planet now, living the mundane life of a schedule and having to conform to all the rituals and customs.

He wouldn't quite label what he felt as _resentment_ , but he couldn't grasp or put a name to the feeling and resentment was the first word that came to mind.

He had become _weak_.

He had become _ordinary_.

He was _bored._

That was why he had jumped at the opportunity to fight in today's World Martial Arts Tournament. It had piqued his interest to begin with, giving both him and Trunks something to train for. Once he had heard that Kakarott was going to be revived for the day, the possibility of facing his old rival and ally had sweetened the pot even more.

He had even taken pride in Trunks' progress as a fighter. He was coming along nicely and he was anticipating watching him defeat Kakarott's youngest spawn in the arena today.

Still, there was that feeling of being left unsatisfied in this life he was currently living and he didn't know why and he didn't know what to do to change it.

He cared deeply for his family; that was why he remained here. They were everything to him. He had the best of living conditions and all of the excessive luxuries this planet had to offer... and yet there was that nagging discontent brewing in his mind and heart.

As he felt his release approaching quickly, he slowed down his pace. It had been a while since they had been intimate; he couldn't remember when the last time had been. He wanted her to reach completion as well. Today was going to be great. Today would change his life, he could _feel_ it.

Bulma raked her fingers in his hair as she felt him slow down just a little bit and she knew he wanted her to join him as he finished. She was only slightly mindful of his mouth lingering on her neck, lightly nipping and sucking on the delicate skin. She cried out as he placed both of his hands on her bum, pulling her towards him, bringing himself even deeper into her, hitting just the right spot inside her.

She sighed his name into his ear as she felt herself coming. "Ohh,"

He knew she was close. He could feel her insides beginning to contract around him and her legs tightened around his waist. He rested his forehead against hers and began moving quickly into her again, taking in her features, distorted from the overwhelming pleasure that was threatening to claim her.

She inhaled sharply as she was thrown over the edge and he covered her mouth with his own as she cried out in her pleasure; he wasn't sure where Trunks was, but he didn't need to be privy to what they were doing.

She hated when he silenced her, but moaned into his mouth anyway as he continued plunging into hard and fast and deep. No one could satisfy her the way that he did and while he wasn't always the emotional support she would like, when they came together like this, all transgressions were forgotten. The man could do no wrong and damn him, he knew it!

He stopped just as he felt himself beginning to unravel; he knew that he should be quick and finish but he did not want to rush now that he had started this with her. _Why did I deny myself of her for so long,_ he asked himself again. The feelings of discontent long gone for the moment.

"What are you doing?" she asked hoarsely as she felt him withdrawing from her. Assuming that he wanted her to finish him off orally, she made to go down on her knees but he caught her elbow, keeping her standing up.

He wrapped an arm around her and undid the zipper of her dress and dragged her back a few feet into her specious bathroom, spun her so she was staring back at him into the mirror.

"What are you doing, Vegeta?" she asked again as he bent her over the countertop and one of his hands managed to free a breast from the confines of her dress. He began to fondle it. "We don't have time..." she objected weakly, not truly minding.

"You are complaining?" he smirked into the back of her neck as he eased himself back into her again slowly then bringing himself out and then going back in hard, hitting a pleasure spot inside her as if to prove his point.

"Oh no," she moaned, lost all over again. "You were rushing me to get ready is all... why do you do _this_?"

"What?" he grunted setting a moderate pace in and out of her.

"Start _this..._ always... at the most inopportune time..." she said between breaths.

He didn't reply. He only palmed her breast, kneading the nipple, feeling it stand erect against his fingers. His other hand made its way from her hip down to her front to stroke her.

Bulma lost her train of thought as he played her body expertly. She hummed as she felt a second round of pleasure beginning to build inside of her again and rested the back of her head against his shoulder, nipping him fiercely on his jawline while making eye contact with him through the mirror.

He responded by putting his mouth on the exposed side of her neck, sucking on the soft skin and lightly biting down but not breaking the skin.

He felt the familiar pull of pleasure beginning to course through him as his climax began and he rubbed her front more forcefully, wanting her to share in the moment.

"Oh god," she sighed, rocking her hips greedily against his hand as she felt herself beginning to come again. She didn't want to lose it... Not when she was so close.

Vegeta grunted as he lost himself inside of her completely, leaning his forehead on her shoulder as he basked in the pleasure of his release. She began to tremble against him as her own climax took over her senses.

They both shook and trembled and gasped for air as they calmed down in the aftermath of their activities.

Vegeta wrapped both arms around her waist and squeezed her tightly for a moment before letting her go and exiting the bathroom to readjust himself. It would do no good if everyone knew they had been late because he had been so weak as to have his woman before battle like he just had.

"Oh great," he heard her sigh from the bathroom as she rushed to clean herself up again so they could leave.

Bulma came out of the bathroom with her hands on her hips in mock annoyance. On her neck was a bright red, very noticeable hickey.

Vegeta smirked at her, though he knew she probably wasn't happy with him for doing that. She didn't mind it when he marked her, just so long as she could cover it up afterwards. Usually he took great caution to respect that as well; especially since she was usually up for anything during their coupling and put forth the effort to keep things interesting. "You should cover that up," he said in a mockingly innocent tone.

"With what?" she sighed. "All the cover up in the world isn't going to make it go away," she went into her closet and began rifling through her things.

"Hurry up," he growled, knowing that would push her buttons a little.

"Says man who decided he wanted to have a little fun after I _was_ ready to go," she retorted. "I'm not complaining, but you really need to work on your timing and find more convenient times to pounce on me."

She emerged from her closet with a small yellow scarf in hand. Racing to the mirror, she began to tie it stylishly, effectively hiding the evidence of their tryst. "What do you think? Does it look stupid?"

Vegeta shook his head. "Not at all,"

"Hmmmn, okay then, let's go!" Just as they reached the door, she grabbed his hand to stop him. "I know you haven't been yourself as of late so I hope this tournament is _exactly_ what you need to remind yourself of who you are and what you want out of life. No matter what happens, win or lose, you're the best in both mine and Trunks' eyes. I want you to go out there and show everyone what you can do, and make us proud!"

"Hmmmn," he grunted uncomfortably. He didn't want to have a serious discussion with her.

"I'll be cheering you on from the stands and remember," she said leaning in close to him, her lips to his ear and one of her hands skimmed down to his now flaccid package, "Win or lose, the real prize is _here_ later on."

"I _will_ win," he said absolutely without reservation.

"I know you will," she smiled at him, kissing him lightly on his cheek before stepping away from him.

They left their bedroom, packed up Trunks and headed out to the stands of the tournament as a family. All of them anxious and excited for different reasons.

Bulma smiled to herself as Vegeta took her hand loosely as they walked casually on the grounds of the stadium. The guys had to sign in and weigh in still.

Never had she dared dream that things between her and Vegeta would turn out as good as it had. No, their relationship wasn't perfect and Vegeta was still a mystery to her in so many ways, but she loved him and wouldn't change it for anything.

Now here they all were, father and son competing together and she had no doubt that their presence here would not only be noticed but remembered as well. After all, Vegeta always had to make a statement or make a memorable entrance and Trunks seemed to follow in his father's footsteps.

Yes, no matter the outcome, today would be memorable and possibly life changing for them... She just knew it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading guys! I hope you liked it as much as I enjoyed writing it!
> 
> If you want more, be sure to check my one shot entitled Ruled by Secrecy. It covers what happened immediately after the whole Buu debacle. I wrote and posted it a few years ago but when I was writing this I did want it to tie into it. Keep in mind there may be a few minor discrepancies there because it was previously written, but for the most part it should fit!
> 
> Thanks again for reading and reviewing!


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